Chapter Seven

            Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions

 

                                TEXT 1

 

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                              brahmovaca

               yatrodyatah ksiti-taloddharanaya bibhrat

               kraudim tanum sakala-yajna-mayim anantah

                 antar-maharnava upagatam adi-daityam

               tam damstrayadrim iva vajra-dharo dadara

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   brahma uvaca--Lord Brahma said; yatra--at that time (when); udyatah--attempted; ksiti-tala--the planet earth; uddharanaya--for the matter of lifting; bibhrat--assumed; kraudim--pastimes; tanum--form; sakala--total; yajna-mayim--all-inclusive sacrifices; anantah--the Unlimited; antar--within the universe; maha-arnave--the great Garbha Ocean; upagatam--having arrived at; adi--the first; daityam--demon; tam--him; damstraya--by the tusk; adrim--the flying mountains; iva--like; vajra-dharah--the controller of the thunderbolts; dadara--pierced.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Lord Brahma said: When the unlimitedly powerful Lord assumed the form of a boar as a pastime, just to lift the planet earth, which was drowned in the great ocean of the universe called the Garbhodaka, the first demon [Hiranyaksa] appeared, and the Lord pierced him with His tusk.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Since the beginning of creation, the demons and the demigods, or the Vaisnavas, are always the two classes of living beings to dominate the planets of the universes. Lord Brahma is the first demigod, and Hiranyaksa is the first demon in this universe. Only under certain conditions do the planets float as weightless balls in the air, and as soon as these conditions are disturbed, the planets may fall down in the Garbhodaka Ocean, which covers half the universe. The other half is the spherical dome within which the innumerable planetary systems exist. The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth. A similar disturbance was created formerly by the demons headed by Hiranyaksa (the great exploiter of the gold rush), and the earth was detached from its weightless condition and fell down into the Garbhodaka Ocean. The Lord, as maintainer of the whole creation of the material world, therefore assumed the gigantic form of a boar with a proportionate snout and picked up the earth from within the water of Garbhodaka. Sri Jayadeva Gosvami, the great Vaisnava poet, sang as follows:

 

               vasati dasana-sikhare dharani tava lagna

                    sasini kalanka-kaleva nimagna

                       kesava dhrta-sukara-rupa

                          jaya jagadisa hare

 

   "O Kesava! O Supreme Lord who have assumed the form of a boar! O Lord! The planet earth rested on Your tusks, and it appeared like the moon engraved with spots."

   Such is the symptom of an incarnation of the Lord. The incarnation of the Lord is not the concocted idea of fanciful men who create an incarnation out of imagination. The incarnation of the Lord appears under certain extraordinary circumstances like the above-mentioned occasion, and the incarnation performs a task which is not even imaginable by the tiny brain of mankind. The modern creators of the many cheap incarnations may take note of the factual incarnation of God as the gigantic boar with a suitable snout to carry the planet earth.

   When the Lord appeared to pick up the earth, the demon of the name Hiranyaksa tried to create a disturbance in the methodical functions of the Lord, and therefore he was killed by being pierced by the Lord's tusk. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the demon Hiranyaksa was killed by the hand of the Lord. Therefore his version is that after being killed by the hand of the Lord, the demon was pierced by the tusk. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirms this version.

 

                                TEXT 2

 

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                 jato rucer ajanayat suyaman suyajna

                  akuti-sunur amaran atha daksinayam

                loka-trayasya mahatim aharad yad artim

                svayambhuvena manuna harir ity anuktah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   jatah--was born; ruceh--of the wife of Prajapati; ajanayat--gave birth; suyaman--headed by Suyama; suyajnah--Suyajna; akuti-sunuh--of the son of Akuti; amaran--the demigods; atha--thus; daksinayam--unto the wife of the name Daksina; loka--the planetary systems; trayasya--of the three; mahatim--very great; aharat--diminished; yat--all those; artim--distresses; svayambhuvena--by the Manu named Svayambhuva; manuna--by the father of mankind; harih--Hari; iti--thus; anuktah--named.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Prajapati first begot Suyajna, in the womb of his wife Akuti, and then Suyajna begot demigods, headed by Suyama, in the womb of his wife Daksina. Suyajna, as the Indradeva, diminished very great miseries in the three planetary systems [upper, lower and intermediate], and because he so diminished the miseries of the universe, he was later called Hari by the great father of mankind, namely Svayambhuva Manu.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   In order to guard against the invention of unauthorized incarnations of God by the fanciful, less intelligent persons, the name of the father of the bona fide incarnation is also mentioned in the authorized revealed scriptures. No one, therefore, can be accepted as an incarnation of the Lord if his father's name, as well as the name of the village or place in which he appears, is not mentioned by the authorized scriptures. In the Bhagavata Purana the name of the Kalki incarnation, which is to take place in almost four hundred thousand years, is mentioned along with the name of His father and the name of the village in which He will appear. A sane man, therefore, does not accept any cheap edition of an incarnation without reference to the authorized scriptures.

 

                                TEXT 3

 

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                jajne ca kardama-grhe dvija devahutyam

             stribhih samam navabhir atma-gatim sva-matre

                uce yayatma-samalam guna-sanga-pankam

                asmin vidhuya kapilasya gatim prapede

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   jajne--took birth; ca--also; kardama--the Prajapati named Kardama; grhe--in the house of; dvija--O brahmana; devahutyam--in the womb of Devahuti; stribhih--by women; samam--accompanied by; navabhih--by nine; atma-gatim--spiritual realization; sva-matre--unto His own mother; uce--uttered; yaya--by which; atma-samalam--coverings of the spirit soul; guna-sanga--associated with the modes of nature; pankam--mud; asmin--this very life; vidhuya--being washed off; kapilasya--of Lord Kapila; gatim--liberation; prapede--achieved.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord then appeared as the Kapila incarnation, being the son of the prajapati brahmana Kardama and his wife, Devahuti, along with nine other women [sisters]. He spoke to His mother about self-realization, by which, in that very lifetime, she became fully cleansed of the mud of the material modes and thereby achieved liberation, the path of Kapila.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The instructions of Lord Kapila to His mother Devahuti are fully described in the Third Canto (Chapters 25-32) of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and anyone who follows the instructions can achieve the same liberation obtained by Devahuti. The Lord spoke Bhagavad-gita, and thereby Arjuna achieved self-realization, and even today anyone who follows the path of Arjuna can also attain the same benefit as Sri Arjuna. The scriptures are meant for this purpose. Foolish, unintelligent persons make their own interpretations by imagination and thus mislead their followers, causing them to remain in the dungeon of material existence. However, simply by following the instructions imparted by Lord Krsna or Lord Kapila, one can obtain the highest benefit, even today.

   The word atma-gatim is significant in the sense of perfect knowledge of the Supreme. One should not be satisfied simply by knowing the qualitative equality of the Lord and the living being. One should know the Lord as much as can be known by our limited knowledge. It is impossible for the Lord to be known perfectly as He is, even by such liberated persons as Siva or Brahma, so what to speak of other demigods or men in this world. Still, by following the principles of the great devotees and the instructions available in the scriptures, one can know to a considerable extent the features of the Lord. His Lordship Kapila, the incarnation of the Lord, instructed His mother fully about the personal form of the Lord, and thereby she realized the personal form of the Lord and was able to achieve a place in the Vaikunthaloka where, Lord Kapila predominates. Every incarnation of the Lord has His own abode in the spiritual sky. Therefore Lord Kapila also has His separate Vaikuntha planet. The spiritual sky is not void. There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and in each of them the Lord, by His innumerable expansions, predominates, and the pure devotees who are there also live in the same style as the Lord and His eternal associates.

   When the Lord descends personally or by His personal plenary expansions, such incarnations are called amsa, kala, guna, yuga and manvantara incarnations, and when the Lord's associates descend by the order of the Lord, such incarnations are called saktyavesa incarnations. But in all cases all the incarnations are supported by the invulnerable statements of the authorized scriptures, and not by any imagination of some self-interested propagandist. Such incarnations of the Lord, in either of the above categories, always declare the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be the ultimate truth. The impersonal conception of the supreme truth is just a process of negation of the form of the Lord from the mundane conception of the supreme truth.

   The living entities, by their very constitution, are spiritually as good as the Lord, and the only difference between them is that the Lord is always supreme and pure, without contamination by the modes of material nature, whereas the living entities are apt to be contaminated by association with the material modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. This contamination by the material modes can be washed off completely by knowledge, renunciation and devotional service. Devotional service to the Lord is the ultimate issue, and therefore those who are directly engaged in the devotional service of the Lord not only acquire the necessary knowledge in spiritual science, but also attain detachment from material connection and are thus promoted to the kingdom of God by complete liberation, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

 

                       mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena

                         bhakti-yogena sevate

                        sa gunan samatityaitan

                        brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

 

   Even in the nonliberated stage, a living entity can be directly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna or His plenary expansions like Rama and Narasimha. Thus, with the proportionate improvement of such transcendental devotional service, the devotee makes definite progress toward brahma-gatim or atma-gatim, and ultimately attains kapilasya gatim, or the abode of the Lord, without difficulty. The antiseptic potency of devotional service to the Lord is so great that it can neutralize the material infection even in the present life of a devotee. A devotee does not need to wait for his next birth for complete liberation.

 

                                TEXT 4

 

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                 atrer apatyam abhikanksata aha tusto

               datto mayaham iti yad bhagavan sa dattah

                 yat-pada-pankaja-paraga-pavitra-deha

               yogarddhim apur ubhayim yadu-haihayadyah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   atreh--of the sage Atri; apatyam--issue; abhikanksatah--having prayed for; aha--said it; tustah--being satisfied; dattah--given over; maya--by me; aham--myself; iti--thus; yat--because; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; sah--He; dattah--Dattatreya; yat-pada--one whose feet; pankaja--lotus; paraga--dust; pavitra--purified; dehah--body; yoga--mystic; rddhim--opulence; apuh--got; ubhayim--for both the worlds; yadu--the father of the Yadu dynasty; haihaya-adyah--and others, like King Haihaya.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The great sage Atri prayed for offspring, and the Lord, being satisfied with him, promised to incarnate as Atri's son, Dattatreya [Datta, the son of Atri]. And by the grace of the lotus feet of the Lord, many Yadus, Haihayas, etc., became so purified that they obtained both material and spiritual blessings.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Transcendental relations between the Personality of Godhead and the living entities are eternally established in five different affectionate humors, which are known as santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. The sage Atri was related with the Lord in the affectionate vatsalya humor, and therefore, as a result of his devotional perfection, he was inclined to have the Personality of Godhead as his son. The Lord accepted his prayer, and He gave Himself as the son of Atri. Such a relation of sonhood between the Lord and His pure devotees can be cited in many instances. And because the Lord is unlimited, He has an unlimited number of father-devotees. Factually the Lord is the father of all living entities, but out of transcendental affection and love between the Lord and His devotees, the Lord takes more pleasure in becoming the son of a devotee than in becoming one's father. The father actually serves the son, whereas the son only demands all sorts of services from the father; therefore a pure devotee who is always inclined to serve the Lord wants Him as the son, and not as the father. The Lord also accepts such service from the devotee, and thus the devotee becomes more than the Lord. The impersonalists desire to become one with the Supreme, but the devotee becomes more than the Lord, surpassing the desire of the greatest monist. Parents and other relatives of the Lord achieve all mystic opulences automatically because of their intimate relationship with the Lord. Such opulences include all details of material enjoyment, salvation and mystic powers. Therefore, the devotee of the Lord does not seek them separately, wasting his valuable time in life. The valuable time of one's life must therefore be fully engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Then other desirable achievements are automatically gained. But even after obtaining such achievements, one should be on guard against the pitfall of offenses at the feet of the devotees. The vivid example is Haihaya, who achieved all such perfection in devotional service but, because of his offense at the feet of a devotee, was killed by Lord Parasurama. The Lord became the son of the great sage Atri and became known as Dattatreya.

 

                                TEXT 5

 

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                taptam tapo vividha-loka-sisrksaya me

              adau sanat sva-tapasah sa catuh-sano 'bhut

             prak-kalpa-samplava-vinastam ihatma-tattvam

                samyag jagada munayo yad acaksatatman

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   taptam--having undergone austerities; tapah--penance; vividha-loka--different planetary systems; sisrksaya--desiring to create; me--of mine; adau--at first; sanat--from the Personality of Godhead; sva-tapasah--by dint of my own penances; sah--He (the Lord); catuh-sanah--the four bachelors named Sanat-kumara, Sanaka, Sanandana and Sanatana; abhut--appeared; prak--previous; kalpa--creation; samplava--in the inundation; vinastam--devastated; iha--in this material world; atma--the spirit; tattvam--truth; samyak--in complete; jagada--became manifested; munayah--sages; yat--that which; acaksata--saw clearly; atman--the spirit.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   To create different planetary systems I had to undergo austerities and penance, and the Lord, thus being pleased with me, incarnated in four sanas [Sanaka, Sanat-kumara, Sanandana and Sanatana]. In the previous creation the spiritual truth was devastated, but the four sanas explained it so nicely that the truth at once became clearly perceived by the sages.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Visnu-sahasra-nama prayers mention the Lord's name as sanat and sanatanatama. The Lord and the living entities are both qualitatively sanatana, or eternal, but the Lord is sanatana-tama or the eternal in the superlative degree. The living entities are positively sanatana, but not superlatively, because the living entities are apt to fall to the atmosphere of noneternity. Therefore, the living entities are quantitatively different from the superlative sanatana, the Lord.

   The word san is also used in the sense of charity; therefore when everything is given up in charity unto the Lord, the Lord reciprocates by giving Himself unto the devotee. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.11): ye yatha mam prapadyante. Brahmaji wanted to create the whole cosmic situation as it was in the previous millennium, and because, in the last devastation, knowledge of the Absolute Truth was altogether erased from the universe, he desired that the same knowledge again be renovated; otherwise there would be no meaning in the creation. Because transcendental knowledge is a prime necessity, the ever-conditioned souls are given a chance for liberation in every millennium of creation. This mission of Brahmaji was fulfilled by the grace of the Lord when the four sanas, namely Sanaka, Sanat-kumara, Sanandana and Sanatana, appeared as his four sons. These four sanas were incarnations of the knowledge of the Supreme Lord, and as such they explained transcendental knowledge so explicitly that all the sages could at once assimilate this knowledge without the least difficulty. By following in the footsteps of the four Kumaras, one can at once see the Supreme Personality of Godhead within oneself.

 

                                TEXT 6

 

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              dharmasya daksa-duhitary ajanista murtyam

                narayano nara iti sva-tapah-prabhavah

                 drstvatmano bhagavato niyamavalopam

              devyas tv ananga-prtana ghatitum na sekuh

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   dharmasya--of Dharma (the controller of religious principles); daksa--Daksa, one of the Prajapatis; duhitari--unto the daughter; ajanista--took birth; murtyam--of the name Murti; narayanah--Narayana; narah--Nara; iti--thus; sva-tapah--personal penances; prabhavah--strength; drstva--by seeing; atmanah--of His own; bhagavatah--of the Personality of Godhead; niyama-avalopam--breaking the vow; devyah--celestial beauties; tu--but; ananga-prtanah--companion of Cupid; ghatitum--to happen; na--never; sekuh--made possible.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   To exhibit His personal way of austerity and penance, He appeared in twin forms as Narayana and Nara in the womb of Murti, the wife of Dharma and the daughter of Daksa. Celestial beauties, the companions of Cupid, went to try to break His vows, but they were unsuccessful, for they saw that many beauties like them were emanating from Him, the Personality of Godhead.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Lord, being the source of everything that be, is the origin of all austerities and penances also. Great vows of austerity are undertaken by sages to achieve success in self-realization. Human life is meant for such tapasya, with the great vow of celibacy, or brahmacarya. In the rigid life of tapasya, there is no place for the association of women. And because human life is meant for tapasya, for self-realization, factual human civilization, as conceived by the system of sanatana-dharma or the school of four castes and four orders of life, prescribes rigid dissociation from woman in three stages of life. In the order of gradual cultural development, one's life may be divided into four divisions: celibacy, household life, retirement, and renunciation. During the first stage of life, up to twenty-five years of age, a man may be trained as a brahmacari under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master just to understand that woman is the real binding force in material existence. If one wants to get freedom from the material bondage of conditional life, he must get free from the attraction for the form of woman. Woman, or the fair sex, is the enchanting principle for the living entities, and the male form, especially in the human being, is meant for self-realization. The whole world is moving under the spell of womanly attraction, and as soon as a man becomes united with a woman, he at once becomes a victim of material bondage under a tight knot. The desires for lording it over the material world, under the intoxication of a false sense of lordship, specifically begin just after the man's unification with a woman. The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like phantasmagoria or illusory dreams, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life. The brahmacari, or a boy from the age of five years, especially from the higher castes, namely from the scholarly parents (the brahmanas), the administrative parents (the ksatriyas), or the mercantile or productive parents (the vaisyas), is trained until twenty-five years of age under the care of a bona fide guru or teacher, and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life along with taking specific training for a livelihood. The brahmacari is then allowed to go home and enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacaris who do not go home to become householders but continue the life of naisthika-brahmacaris, without any connection with women. They accept the order of sannyasa, or the renounced order of life, knowing well that combination with women is an unnecessary burden that checks self-realization. Since sex desire is very strong at a certain stage of life, the guru may allow the brahmacari to marry; this license is given to a brahmacari who is unable to continue the way of naisthika-brahmacarya, and such discriminations are possible for the bona fide guru. A program of so-called family planning is needed. The householder who associates with woman under scriptural restrictions, after a thorough training of brahmacarya, cannot be a householder like cats and dogs. Such a householder, after fifty years of age, would retire from the association of woman as a vanaprastha to be trained to live alone without the association of woman. When the practice is complete, the same retired householder becomes a sannyasi, strictly separate from woman, even from his married wife. Studying the whole scheme of disassociation from women, it appears that a woman is a stumbling block for self-realization, and the Lord appeared as Narayana to teach the principle of womanly disassociation with a vow in life. The demigods, being envious of the austere life of the rigid brahmacaris, would try to cause them to break their vows by dispatching soldiers of Cupid. But in the case of the Lord, it became an unsuccessful attempt when the celestial beauties saw that the Lord can produce innumerable such beauties by His mystic internal potency and that there was consequently no need to be attracted by others externally. There is a common proverb that a confectioner is never attracted by sweetmeats. The confectioner, who is always manufacturing sweetmeats, has very little desire to eat them; similarly, the Lord, by His pleasure potential powers, can produce innumerable spiritual beauties and not be the least attracted by the false beauties of material creation. One who does not know alleges foolishly that Lord Krsna enjoyed women in His rasa-lila in Vrndavana, or with His sixteen thousand married wives at Dvaraka.

 

                                TEXT 7

 

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                kamam dahanti krtino nanu rosa-drstya

               rosam dahantam uta te na dahanty asahyam

              so 'yam yad antaram alam pravisan bibheti

               kamah katham nu punar asya manah srayeta

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   kamam--lust; dahanti--chastise; krtinah--great stalwarts; nanu--but; rosa-drstya--by wrathful glance; rosam--wrath; dahantam--being overwhelmed; uta--although; te--they; na--cannot; dahanti--subjugate; asahyam--intolerable; sah--that; ayam--Him; yat--because; antaram--within; alam--however; pravisan--entering; bibheti--is afraid of; kamah--lust; katham--how; nu--as a matter of fact; punah--again; asya--His; manah--mind; srayeta--take shelter of.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Great stalwarts like Lord Siva can, by their wrathful glances, overcome lust and vanquish him, yet they cannot be free from the overwhelming effects of their own wrath. Such wrath can never enter into the heart of Him [the Lord], who is above all this. So how can lust take shelter in His mind?

 

                               PURPORT

 

   When Lord Siva was engaged in severely austere meditation, Cupid, the demigod of lust, threw his arrow of sex desire. Lord Siva, thus being angry at him, glanced at Cupid in great wrath, and at once the body of Cupid was annihilated. Although Lord Siva was so powerful, he was unable to get free from the effects of such wrath. But in the behavior of Lord Visnu there is no incident of such wrath at any time. On the contrary, Bhrgu Muni tested the tolerance of the Lord by purposely kicking His chest, but instead of being angry at Bhrgu Muni the Lord begged his pardon, saying that Bhrgu Muni's leg might have been badly hurt because His chest is too hard. The Lord has the sign of the foot of bhrgupada as the mark of tolerance. The Lord, therefore, is never affected by any kind of wrath, so how can there be any place for lust, which is less strong than wrath? When lust or desire is not fulfilled, there is the appearance of wrath, but in the absence of wrath how can there be any place for lust? The Lord is known as apta-kama, or one who can fulfill His desires by Himself. He does not require anyone's help to satisfy His desires. The Lord is unlimited, and therefore His desires are also unlimited. All living entities but the Lord are limited in every respect; how then can the limited satisfy the desires of the unlimited? The conclusion is that the Absolute Personality of Godhead has neither lust nor anger, and even if there is sometimes a show of lust and anger by the Absolute, it should be considered an absolute benediction.

 

                                TEXT 8

 

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              viddhah sapatny-udita-patribhir anti rajno

                 balo 'pi sann upagatas tapase vanani

               tasma adad dhruva-gatim grnate prasanno

              divyah stuvanti munayo yad upary-adhastat

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   viddhah--pinched by; sapatni--a co-wife; udita--uttered by; patribhih--by sharp words; anti--just before; rajnah--of the king; balah--a boy; api--although; san--being so; upagatah--took to; tapase--severe penances; vanani--in a great forest; tasmai--therefore; adat--gave as a reward; dhruva-gatim--a path to the Dhruva planet; grnate--on being prayed for; prasannah--being satisfied; divyah--denizens of higher planets; stuvanti--do pray; munayah--great sages; yat--thereupon; upari--up; adhastat--down.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet, which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   When he was only five years old, Prince Dhruva, a great devotee and the son of Maharaja Uttanapada, was sitting on the lap of his father. His stepmother did not like the King's patting her stepson, so she dragged him out, saying that he could not claim to sit on the lap of the King because he was not born out of her womb. The little boy felt insulted by this act of his stepmother. Nor did his father make any protest, for he was too attached to his second wife. After this incident, Prince Dhruva went to his own mother and complained. His real mother also could not take any step against this insulting behavior, and so she wept. The boy inquired from his mother how he could sit on the royal throne of his father, and the poor queen replied that only the Lord could help him. The boy inquired where the Lord could be seen, and the queen replied that it is said that the Lord is sometimes seen by great sages in the dense forest. The child prince decided to go into the forest to perform severe penances in order to achieve his objective.

   Prince Dhruva performed a stringent type of penance under the instruction of his spiritual master, Sri Narada Muni, who was specifically deputed for this purpose by the Personality of Godhead. Prince Dhruva was initiated by Narada into chanting the hymn composed of eighteen letters, namely om namo bhagavate vasudevaya, and Lord Vasudeva incarnated Himself as Prsnigarbha, the Personality of Godhead with four hands, and awarded the prince a specific planet above the seven stars. Prince Dhruva, after achieving success in his undertakings, saw the Lord face to face, and he was satisfied that all his needs were fulfilled.

   The planet awarded to Prince Dhruva Maharaja is a fixed Vaikuntha planet, installed in the material atmosphere by the will of the Supreme Lord, Vasudeva. This planet, although within the material world, will not be annihilated at the time of devastation, but will remain fixed in its place. And because it is a Vaikuntha planet never to be annihilated, it is worshiped even by the denizens of the seven stars situated below the Dhruva planet, as well as by the planets which are even above the Dhruva planet. Maharsi Bhrgu's planet is situated above the Dhruva planet.

   So the Lord incarnated Himself as Prsnigarbha just to satisfy a pure devotee of the Lord. And Prince Dhruva achieved this perfection simply by chanting the hymn mentioned above, after being initiated by another pure devotee, Narada. A serious personality can thus achieve the highest perfection of meeting the Lord and attain his objective simply by being guided by a pure devotee, who automatically approaches by dint of one's serious determination to meet the Lord by all means.

   The description of Prince Dhruva's activities can be read in detail in the Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

                                TEXT 9

 

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              yad venam utpatha-gatam dvija-vakya-vajra-

               nisplusta-paurusa-bhagam niraye patantam

               tratvarthito jagati putra-padam ca lebhe

                 dugdha vasuni vasudha sakalani yena

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yat--when; venam--unto King Vena; utpatha-gatam--going astray from the righteous path; dvija--of the brahmanas; vakya--words of cursing; vajra--thunderbolt; nisplusta--being burnt by; paurusa--great deeds; bhagam--opulence; niraye--into hell; patantam--going down; tratva--by delivering; arthitah--so being prayed for; jagati--on the world; putra-padam--the position of the son; ca--as well as; lebhe--achieved; dugdha--exploited; vasuni--produce; vasudha--the earth; sakalani--all kinds of; yena--by whom.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Maharaja Vena went astray from the path of righteousness, and the brahmanas chastised him by the thunderbolt curse. By this King Vena was burnt with his good deeds and opulence and was en route to hell. The Lord, by His causeless mercy, descended as his son, by the name of Prthu, delivered the condemned King Vena from hell, and exploited the earth by drawing all kinds of crops as produce.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   According to the system of varnasrama-dharma, the pious and learned brahmanas were the natural guardians of society. The brahmanas, by their learned labor of love, would instruct the administrator-kings how to rule the country in complete righteousness, and thus the process would go on as a perfect welfare state. The kings or the ksatriya administrators would always consult the council of learned brahmanas. They were never autocratic monarchs. The scriptures like Manu-samhita and other authorized books of the great sages were guiding principles for ruling the subjects, and there was no need for less intelligent persons to manufacture a code of law in the name of democracy. The less intelligent mass of people have very little knowledge of their own welfare, as a child has very little knowledge of its future well-being. The experienced father guides the innocent child towards the path of progress, and the childlike mass of people need similar guidance. The standard welfare codes are already there in the Manu-samhita and other Vedic literatures. The learned brahmanas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brahmanas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures. This system continued even up to the time of Maharaja Candragupta, and the brahmana Canakya was his unpaid prime minister.

   Maharaja Vena did not adhere to this principle of ruling, and he disobeyed the learned brahmanas. The broad-minded brahmanas were not self-interested, but looked to the interest of complete welfare for all the subjects. They wanted to chastise King Vena for his misconduct and so prayed to the Almighty Lord as well as cursed the king.

   Long life, obedience, good reputation, righteousness, prospects of being promoted to higher planets, and blessings of great personalities are all vanquished simply by disobedience to a great soul. One should strictly try to follow in the footsteps of great souls. Maharaja Vena became a king, undoubtedly due to his past deeds of righteousness, but because he willfully neglected the great souls, he was punished by the loss of all the above-mentioned acquisitions. In the Vamana purana the history of Maharaja Vena and his degradation are fully described. When Maharaja Prthu heard about the hellish condition of his father, Vena, who was suffering from leprosy in the family of a mleccha, he at once brought the former king to Kuruksetra for his purification and relieved him of all sufferings.

   Maharaja Prthu, the incarnation of God, descended by the prayer of the brahmanas to rectify the disorders on earth. He produced all kinds of crops. But, at the same time, he performed the duty of a son who delivers his father from hellish conditions. The word putra means one who delivers from hell, called put. That is a worthy son.

 

                               TEXT 10

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 nabher asav rsabha asa sudevi-sunur

               yo vai cacara sama-drg jada-yoga-caryam

               yat paramahamsyam rsayah padam amananti

              svasthah prasanta-karanah parimukta-sangah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   nabheh--by Maharaja Nabhi; asau--the Personality of Godhead; rsabhah--Rsabha; asa--became; sudevi--Sudevi; sunuh--the son of; yah--who; vai--certainly; cacara--performed; sama-drk--equibalanced; jada--material; yoga-caryam--performance of yoga; yat--which; paramahamsyam--the highest stage of perfection; rsayah--the learned sages; padam--situation; amananti--do accept; svasthah--self-reposed; prasanta--suspended; karanah--the material senses; parimukta--perfectly liberated; sangah--material contamination.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord appeared as the son of Sudevi, the wife of King Nabhi, and was known as Rsabhadeva. He performed materialistic yoga to equibalance the mind. This stage is also accepted as the highest perfectional situation of liberation, wherein one is situated in one's self and is completely satisfied.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Out of many types of mystic performances for self-realization, the process of jada-yoga is also one accepted by authorities. This jada-yoga involves practicing becoming like a dumb stone and not being affected by material reactions. Just as a stone is indifferent to all kinds of attacks and reattacks of external situations, similarly one practices jada-yoga by tolerating voluntary infliction of pain upon the material body. Such yogis, out of many self-infliction methods, practice plucking out the hairs on their heads, without shaving and without any instrumental help. But the real purpose of such jada-yoga practice is to get free from all material affection and to be completely situated in the self. At the last stage of his life, Emperor Rsabhadeva wandered like a dumb madman, unaffected by all kinds of bodily mistreatment. Seeing him like a madman, wandering naked with long hair and a long beard, less intelligent children and men in the street used to spit on him and urinate on his body. He used to lie in his own stool and never move. But the stool of his body was fragrant like the smell of fragrant flowers, and a saintly person would recognize him as a paramahamsa, one in the highest state of human perfection. One who is not able to make his stool fragrant should not, however, imitate Emperor Rsabhadeva. The practice of jada-yoga was possible for Rsabhadeva and others on the same level of perfection, but such an uncommon practice is impossible for an ordinary man.

   The real purpose of jada-yoga, as mentioned here in this verse, is prasanta-karanah, or subduing the senses. The whole process of yoga, under whatever heading it may be, is to control the unbridled material senses and thus prepare oneself for self-realization. In this age specifically, this jada-yoga cannot be of any practical value, but on the other hand the practice of bhakti-yoga is feasible because it is just suitable for this age. The simple method of hearing from the right source, Srimad-Bhagavatam, will lead one to the highest perfectional stage of yoga. Rsabhadeva was the son of King Nabhi and the grandson of King Agnidhra, and he was the father of King Bharata, after whose name this planet earth was called Bharata-varsa. Rsabhadeva's mother was also known as Merudevi, although her name is mentioned here as Sudevi. It is sometimes proposed that Sudevi was another wife of King Nabhi, but since King Rsabhadeva is mentioned elsewhere as the son of Merudevi, it is clear that Merudevi and Sudevi are the same person under different names.

 

                               TEXT 11

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 satre mamasa bhagavan haya-sirasatho

               saksat sa yajna-purusas tapaniya-varnah

                chandomayo makhamayo 'khila-devatatma

               vaco babhuvur usatih svasato 'sya nastah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   satre--in the sacrificial ceremony; mama--of mine; asa--appeared; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; haya-sirasa--with His horselike head; atha--thus; saksat--directly; sah--He; yajna-purusah--the person who is pleased by performances of sacrifice; tapaniya--golden; varnah--hue; chandah-mayah--personified Vedic hymns; makha-mayah--personified sacrifices; akhila--all that be; devata-atma--the soul of the demigods; vacah--sounds; babhuvuh--become audible; usatih--very pleasing to hear; svasatah--while breathing; asya--His; nastah--through the nostrils.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord appeared as the Hayagriva incarnation in a sacrifice performed by me [Brahma]. He is the personified sacrifices, and the hue of His body is golden. He is the personified Vedas as well, and the Supersoul of all demigods. When He breathed, all the sweet sounds of the Vedic hymns came out of His nostrils.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Vedic hymns are generally meant for sacrifices performed by fruitive workers who also want to satisfy the demigods to achieve their fruitive result. But the Lord is the personified sacrifices and personified Vedic hymns. Therefore one who is directly a devotee of the Lord is a person who has automatically both served the purposes of sacrifices and pleased the demigods. The devotees of the Lord may not perform any sacrifice or may not please the demigods as per Vedic injunctions, and still the devotees are on a higher level than the fruitive workers or the worshipers of different demigods.

 

                               TEXT 12

 

                                 TEXT

 

                matsyo yuganta-samaye manunopalabdhah

                 ksonimayo nikhila-jiva-nikaya-ketah

                visramsitan uru-bhaye salile mukhan me

                 adaya tatra vijahara ha veda-margan

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   matsyah--incarnation of the fish; yuga-anta--at the end of the millennium; samaye--at the time of; manuna--the would-be Vaivasvata Manu; upalabdhah--seen; ksonimayah--up to the earthly planets; nikhila--all; jiva--living entities; nikaya-ketah--shelter for; visramsitan--emanating from; uru--great; bhaye--out of fear; salile--in the water; mukhat--from the mouth; me--mine; adaya--having taken to; tatra--there; vijahara--enjoyed; ha--certainly; veda-margan--all the Vedas.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   At the end of the millennium, the would-be Vaivasvata Manu, of the name Satyavrata, would see that the Lord in the fish incarnation is the shelter of all kinds of living entities, up to those in the earthly planets. Because of my fear of the vast water at the end of the millennium, the Vedas come out of my [Brahma's] mouth, and the Lord enjoys those vast waters and protects the Vedas.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   During one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus, and at the end of each Manu there is devastation up to the earthly planets, and the vast water is fearful even to Brahma. So in the beginning of the would-be Vaivasvata Manu, such devastation would be seen by him. There would be many other incidents also, such as the killing of the famous Sankhasura. This foretelling is by the past experience of Brahmaji, who knew that in that fearful devastating scene, the Vedas would come out of his mouth, but the Lord in His fish incarnation not only would save all living entities, namely the demigods, animals, men and great sages, but would also save the Vedas.

 

                               TEXT 13

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 ksirodadhav amara-danava-yuthapanam

                 unmathnatam amrta-labdhaya adi-devah

               prsthena kacchapa-vapur vidadhara gotram

               nidraksano 'dri-parivarta-kasana-kanduh

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   ksira--milk; udadhau--in the ocean of; amara--the demigods; danava--the demons; yutha-panam--of the leaders of both hosts; unmathnatam--while churning; amrta--nectar; labdhaya--for gaining; adi-devah--the primeval Lord; prsthena--by the backbone; kacchapa--tortoise; vapuh--body; vidadhara--assumed; gotram--the Mandara Hill; nidraksanah--while partly sleeping; adri-parivarta--rolling the hill; kasana--scratching; kanduh--itching.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The primeval Lord then assumed the tortoise incarnation in order to serve as a resting place [pivot] for the Mandara Mountain, which was acting as a churning rod. The demigods and demons were churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara Mountain in order to extract nectar. The mountain moved back and forth, scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was experiencing an itching sensation.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Although it is not in our experience, there is a milk ocean within this universe. Even the modern scientist accepts that there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of planets hovering over our heads, and each of them has different kinds of climatic conditions. Srimad-Bhagavatam gives much information which may not tally with our present experience. But as far as Indian sages are concerned, knowledge is received from the Vedic literatures, and the authorities accept without any hesitation that we should look through the pages of authentic books of knowledge (sastra-caksurvat). So we cannot deny the existence of the ocean of milk as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam unless and until we have experimentally seen all the planets hovering in space. Since such an experiment is not possible, naturally we have to accept the statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam as it is because it is so accepted by spiritual leaders like Sridhara Svami, Jiva Gosvami, Visvanatha Cakravarti and others. The Vedic process is to follow in the footsteps of great authorities, and that is the only process for knowing that which is beyond our imagination.

   The primeval Lord, being all-powerful, can do whatever He likes, and therefore His assuming the incarnation of a tortoise or a fish for serving a particular purpose is not at all astonishing. Therefore we should not have any hesitation whatsoever in accepting the statements of the authentic scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam.

   The gigantic work of churning the milk ocean by the combined effort of the demigods and the demons required a gigantic resting ground or pivot for the gigantic Mandara Hill. Thus to help the attempt of the demigods the primeval Lord assumed the incarnation of a gigantic tortoise, swimming in the ocean of milk. At the same time, the mountain scratched His backbone as He was partially sleeping and thus relieved His itching sensation.

 

                               TEXT 14

 

                                 TEXT

 

               trai-pistaporu-bhaya-ha sa nrsimha-rupam

            krtva bhramad-bhrukuti-damstra-karala-vaktram

                daityendram asu gadayabhipatantam arad

               urau nipatya vidadara nakhaih sphurantam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   trai-pistapa--the demigods; uru-bhaya-ha--one who vanquishes great fears; sah--He (the Personality of Godhead); nrsimha-rupam--assuming the incarnation Nrsimha; krtva--doing so; bhramat--by rolling; bhru-kuti--eyebrows; damstra--teeth; karala--greatly fearful; vaktram--mouth; daitya-indram--the king of the demons; asu--immediately; gadaya--with club in hand; abhipatantam--while falling down; arat--nearby; urau--on the thighs; nipatya--placing on; vidadara--pierced; nakhaih--by the nails; sphurantam--while challenging.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Personality of Godhead assumed the incarnation of Nrsimhadeva in order to vanquish the great fears of the demigods. He killed the king of the demons [Hiranyakasipu], who challenged the Lord with a club in his hand, by placing the demon on His thighs and piercing him with His nails, rolling His eyebrows in anger and showing His fearful teeth and mouth.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The history of Hiranyakasipu and his great devotee-son Prahlada Maharaja is narrated in the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Hiranyakasipu became very powerful by material achievements and thought himself to be immortal by the grace of Brahmaji. Brahmaji declined to award him the benediction of immortality because he himself is not an immortal being. But Hiranyakasipu derived Brahmaji's benediction in a roundabout way, almost equal to becoming an immortal being. Hiranyakasipu was sure that he would not be killed by any man or demigod or by any kind of known weapon, nor would he die in day or night. The Lord, however, assumed the incarnation of half-man and half-lion, which was beyond the imagination of a materialistic demon like Hiranyakasipu, and thus, keeping pace with the benediction of Brahmaji, the Lord killed him. He killed him on His lap, so that he was killed neither on the land nor on the water nor in the sky. The demon was pierced by Nrsimha's nails, which were beyond the human weapons imaginable by Hiranyakasipu. The literal meaning of Hiranyakasipu is one who is after gold and soft bedding, the ultimate aim of all materialistic men. Such demonic men, who have no relationship with God, gradually become puffed up by material acquisitions and begin to challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord and torture those who are devotees of the Lord. Prahlada Maharaja happened to be the son of Hiranyakasipu, and because the boy was a great devotee, his father tortured him to the best of his ability. In this extreme situation, the Lord assumed the incarnation of Nrsimhadeva, and just to finish the enemy of the demigods, the Lord killed Hiranyakasipu in a manner beyond the demon's imagination. Materialistic plans of godless demons are always frustrated by the all-powerful Lord.

 

                               TEXT 15

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 antah-sarasy uru-balena pade grhito

                grahena yutha-patir ambuja-hasta artah

                  ahedam adi-purusakhila-loka-natha

               tirtha-sravah sravana-mangala-namadheya

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   antah-sarasi--within the river; uru-balena--by superior strength; pade--leg; grhitah--being taken up; grahena--by the crocodile; yutha-patih--of the leader of the elephants; ambuja-hastah--with a lotus flower in the hand; artah--greatly aggrieved; aha--addressed; idam--like this; adi-purusa--the original enjoyer; akhila-loka-natha--the Lord of the universe; tirtha-sravah--as famous as a place of pilgrimage; sravana-mangala--all good simply by hearing the name; nama-dheya--whose holy name is worth chanting.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in a river by a crocodile of superior strength, was much aggrieved. Taking a lotus flower in his trunk, he addressed the Lord, saying, "O original enjoyer, Lord of the universe! O deliverer, as famous as a place of pilgrimage! All are purified simply by hearing Your holy name, which is worthy to be chanted."

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The history of delivering the leader of the elephants, whose leg was attacked in the river by the superior strength of a crocodile, is described in the Eighth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Since the Lord is absolute knowledge, there is no difference between His holy name and the personality of Godhead. The leader of the elephants was much distressed when he was attacked by the crocodile. Although the elephant is always stronger than the crocodile, the latter is stronger than the elephant when it is in the water. And because the elephant was a great devotee of the Lord in his previous birth, he was able to chant the holy name of the Lord by dint of his past good deeds. Every living entity is always distressed in this material world because this place is such that at every step one has to meet with some kind of distress. But one who is supported by his past good deeds engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.16). Those who are supported by impious acts cannot be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, even though they are distressed. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.15). The personality of Godhead Hari appeared at once on the back of His eternal bearer, Garuda, and delivered the elephant.

   The elephant was conscious of his relation with the Supreme Lord. He addressed the Lord as adi-purusa, or the original enjoyer. Both the Lord and the living beings are conscious and are therefore enjoyers, but the Lord is the original enjoyer because He is the creator of everything. In a family, both the father and his sons are undoubtedly enjoyers but the father is the original enjoyer, and the sons are subsequent enjoyers. A pure devotee knows well that everything in the universe is the property of the Lord and that a living entity can enjoy a thing as ordained by the Lord. A living being cannot even touch a thing which is not allotted to him. This idea of the original enjoyer is explained very nicely in the Isopanisad. One who knows this difference between the Lord and himself never accepts anything without first offering it to the Lord.

   The elephant addressed the Lord as akhila-loka-natha, or the Lord of the universe, who is therefore the Lord of the elephant also. The elephant, being a pure devotee of the Lord, specifically deserved to be saved from the attack of the crocodile, and because it is a promise of the Lord that His devotee will never be vanquished, it was quite befitting that the elephant called upon the Lord to protect him, and the merciful Lord also at once responded. The Lord is the protector of everyone, but He is the first protector of one who acknowledges the superiority of the Lord instead of being so falsely proud as to deny the superiority of the Lord or to claim to be equal to Him. He is ever superior. A pure devotee of the Lord knows this difference between the Lord and himself. Therefore a pure devotee is given first preference because of his full dependence, whereas the person who denies the existence of the Lord and declares himself the Lord is called asura, and as such he is given protection by the strength of limited power subject to the sanction of the Lord. Since the Lord is superior to everyone, His perfection is also superior. No one can imagine it.

   The elephant addressed the Lord as tirtha-sravah, or "as famous as a place of pilgrimage." People go to places of pilgrimage in order to be delivered from the reactions of unknown sinful acts. But one can be freed from all sinful reactions simply by remembering His holy name. The Lord is therefore as good as the holy places of pilgrimage. One can be free from all sinful reactions after reaching a place of pilgrimage, but one can have the same benefit at home or at any place simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. For a pure devotee, there is no need to go to the holy place of pilgrimage. He can be delivered from all sinful acts simply by remembering the Lord in earnestness. A pure devotee of the Lord never commits any sinful acts, but because the whole world is full of the sinful atmosphere, even a pure devotee may commit a sin unconsciously, as a matter of course. One who commits sinful acts consciously cannot be worthy of being a devotee of the Lord, but a pure devotee who unconsciously does something sinful is certainly delivered by the Lord because a pure devotee remembers the Lord always.

   The Lord's holy name is called sravana-mangala. This means that one receives everything auspicious simply by hearing the holy name. In another place in Srimad-Bhagavatam, His holy name is described as punya-sravana-kirtana. It is a pious act simply to chant and hear all about the Lord. The Lord descends on this earth and acts like others in connection with the activities of the world just to create subject matters for hearing about Him; otherwise the Lord has nothing to do in this world, nor has He any obligation to do anything. He comes out of His own causeless mercy and acts as He desires, the Vedas and puranas are full of descriptions of His different activities so that people in general may naturally be eager to hear and read something about His activities. Generally, however, the modern fictions and novels of the world occupy a greater part of people's valuable time. Such literatures cannot do good to anyone; on the contrary, they agitate the young mind unnecessarily and increase the modes of passion and ignorance, leading to increasing bondage to the material conditions. The same aptitude for hearing and reading is better utilized in hearing and reading of the Lord's activities. This will give one all-around benefit.

   It is concluded, therefore, that the holy name of the Lord and topics in relation with Him are always worth hearing, and therefore He is called here in this verse nama-dheya, or one whose holy name is worth chanting.

 

                               TEXT 16

 

                                 TEXT

 

               srutva haris tam aranarthinam aprameyas

                cakrayudhah patagaraja-bhujadhirudhah

                cakrena nakra-vadanam vinipatya tasmad

                dhaste pragrhya bhagavan krpayojjahara

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   srutva--by hearing; harih--the Personality of Godhead; tam--him; arana-arthinam--one who is in need of help; aprameyah--the unlimitedly powerful Lord; cakra--wheel; ayudhah--equipped with His weapon; pataga-raja--the king of the birds (Garuda); bhuja-adhirudhah--being seated on the wings of; cakrena--by the wheel; nakra-vadanam--the mouth of the crocodile; vinipatya--cutting in two; tasmat--from the mouth of the crocodile; haste--in the hands; pragrhya--taking hold of the trunk; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; krpaya--out of causeless mercy; ujjahara--delivered him.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Personality of Godhead, after hearing the elephant's plea, felt that the elephant needed His immediate help, for he was in great distress. Thus at once the Lord appeared there on the wings of the king of birds, Garuda, fully equipped with His weapon, the wheel [cakra]. With the wheel He cut to pieces the mouth of the crocodile to save the elephant, and He delivered the elephant by lifting him by his trunk.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Lord resides in His Vaikuntha planet. No one can estimate how far away this planet is situated. It is said, however, that anyone trying to reach that planet by airships or by mindships, traveling for millions of years, will find it still unknown. Modern scientists have invented airships which are material, and the yogis make a still finer material attempt to travel by mindships. The yogis can reach any distant place very quickly with the help of mindships. But neither the airship nor the mindship has access to the kingdom of God in the Vaikunthaloka, situated far beyond the material sky. Since this is the situation, how was it possible for the prayers of the elephant to be heard from such an unlimitedly distant place, and how could the Lord at once appear on the spot? These things cannot be calculated by human imagination. All this was possible by the unlimited power of the Lord, and therefore the Lord is described here as aprameya, for not even the best human brain can estimate His powers and potencies by mathematical calculation. The Lord can hear from such a distant place, He can eat from there, and He can appear simultaneously in all places at a moment's notice. Such is the omnipotency of the Lord.

 

                               TEXT 17

 

                                 TEXT

 

               jyayan gunair avarajo 'py aditeh sutanam

                lokan vicakrama iman yad athadhiyajnah

                ksmam vamanena jagrhe tripada-cchalena

             yacnam rte pathi caran prabhubhir na calyah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   jyayan--the greatest; gunaih--by qualities; avarajah--transcendental; api--although He is so; aditeh--of Aditi; sutanam--of all the sons (known as Adityas); lokan--all the planets; vicakrame--surpassed; iman--in this universe; yat--one who; atha--therefore; adhiyajnah--the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ksmam--all the lands; vamanena--in the incarnation of Vamana; jagrhe--accepted; tripada--three steps; chalena--by pretension; yacnam--begging; rte--without; pathi caran--passing over the right path; prabhubhih--by authorities; na--never to be; calyah--to be bereft of.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord, although transcendental to all material modes, still surpassed all the qualities of the sons of Aditi, known as the Adityas. The Lord appeared as the youngest son of Aditi. And because He surpassed all the planets of the universe, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the pretense of asking for a measurement of three footsteps of land, He took away all the lands of Bali Maharaja. He asked simply because without begging, no authority can take one's rightful possession.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The history of Bali Maharaja and his charity to Vamanadeva is described in the Eighth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Bali Maharaja conquered all the planets of the universe by rightful possession. A king can conquer other kings by strength, and such possession is considered to be rightful. So Bali Maharaja possessed all the lands of the universe, and he happened to be charitably disposed toward the brahmanas. The Lord therefore pretended to be a beggar brahmana, and He asked Bali Maharaja for a measurement of three footsteps of land. The Lord, as the proprietor of everything, could take from Bali Maharaja all the land he possessed, but he did not do so because Bali Maharaja possessed all those lands by king's rights. When Bali Maharaja was asked by Lord Vamana for such small charity, Bali Maharaja's spiritual master, namely Sukracarya, objected to this proposal because he knew that Vamanadeva was Visnu Himself, pretending to be a beggar. Bali Maharaja did not agree to abide by the order of his spiritual master when he understood that the beggar was Visnu Himself, and he at once agreed to give Him in charity the land requested. By this agreement Lord Vamana covered all the lands of the universe with His first two steps and then asked Bali Maharaja where to place the third step. Bali Maharaja was very glad to receive the Lord's remaining step upon his head, and thus Bali Maharaja, instead of losing everything he possessed, was blessed by the Lord's becoming his constant companion and doorman. So, by giving everything to the cause of the Lord, one does not lose anything, but he gains everything that he could never otherwise expect.

 

                               TEXT 18

 

                                 TEXT

 

                nartho baler ayam urukrama-pada-saucam

                apah sikha-dhrtavato vibudhadhipatyam

               yo vai pratisrutam rte na cikirsad anyad

                 atmanam anga manasa haraye 'bhimene

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   na--never; arthah--of any value in comparison with; baleh--of strength; ayam--this; urukrama-pada-saucam--the water washed from the feet of the personality of Godhead; apah--water; sikha-dhrtavatah--of one who has kept it on his head; vibudha-adhipatyam--supremacy over the kingdom of the demigods; yah--one who; vai--certainly; pratisrutam--what was duly promised; rte na--besides that; cikirsat--tried for; anyat--anything else; atmanam--even his personal body; anga--O Narada; manasa--within his mind; haraye--unto the Supreme Lord; abhimene--dedicated.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Bali Maharaja, who put on his head the water washed from the lotus feet of the Lord, did not think of anything besides his promise, in spite of being forbidden by his spiritual master. The king dedicated his own personal body to fulfill the measurement of the Lord's third step. For such a personality, even the kingdom of heaven, which he conquered by his strength, was of no value.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Bali Maharaja, by gaining the transcendental favor of the Lord in exchange for his great material sacrifice, was able to have a place in Vaikunthaloka with equal or greater facilities of eternal enjoyment; therefore he was not at all the loser by sacrificing the kingdom of heaven, which he had possessed by his material strength. In other words, when the Lord snatches away one's hard-earned material possessions and favors one with His personal transcendental service for eternal life, bliss and knowledge, such taking away by the Lord should be considered a special favor upon such a pure devotee.

   Material possessions, however alluring they may be, cannot be permanent possessions. Therefore one has to voluntarily give up such possessions, or one has to leave such possessions at the time of quitting this material body. The sane man knows that all material possessions are temporary and that the best use of such possessions is to engage them in the service of the Lord so that the Lord may be pleased with him and award him a permanent place in His param dhama.

   In the Bhagavad-gita (15.5-6), the param dhama of the Lord is described as follows:

 

                     nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa

                    adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah

               dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair

                 gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat

 

                        na tad bhasayate suryo

                        na sasanko na pavakah

                       yad gatva na nivartante

                        tad dhama paramam mama

 

   One who possesses more in this material world, in the shape of houses, land, children, society, friendship and wealth, possesses these things only for the time being. One cannot possess all this illusory paraphernalia, created by maya, permanently. Such a possessor is more illusioned in the matter of his self-realization; therefore one should possess less or nothing, so that one may be free from artificial prestige. We are contaminated in the material world by association with the three modes of material nature. Therefore, the more one spiritually advances by devotional service to the Lord, in exchange for his temporary possessions, the more one is freed from the attachment of material illusion. To achieve this stage of life one must be firmly convinced about spiritual existence and its permanent effects. To know exactly the permanency of spiritual existence, one must voluntarily practice possessing less or only the minimum to maintain one's material existence without difficulty. One should not create artificial needs. That will help one be satisfied with the minimum. Artificial needs of life are activities of the senses. The modern advancement of civilization is based on these activities of the senses, or, in other words, it is a civilization of sense gratification. Perfect civilization is the civilization of atma, or the soul proper. The civilized man of sense gratification is on an equal level with animals because animals cannot go beyond the activities of the senses. Above the senses is the mind. The civilization of mental speculation is also not the perfect stage of life because above the mind is the intelligence, and the Bhagavad-gita gives us information of the intellectual civilization. The Vedic literatures give different directions for the human civilization, including the civilization of the senses, of the mind, of the intelligence, and of the soul proper. The Bhagavad-gita primarily deals with the intelligence of man, leading one to the progressive path of civilization of the spirit soul. And Srimad-Bhagavatam is the complete human civilization dealing with the subject matter of the soul proper. As soon as a man is raised to the status of the civilization of the soul, he is fit to be promoted to the kingdom of God, which is described in the Bhagavad-gita as per the above verses.

   The primary information of the kingdom of God informs us that there is no need of sun, moon or electricity, which are all necessary in this material world of darkness. And the secondary information of the kingdom of God explains that anyone able to reach that kingdom by adoption of the civilization of the soul proper, or, in other words, by the method of bhakti-yoga, attains the highest perfection of life. One is then situated in the permanent existence of the soul, with full knowledge of transcendental loving service for the Lord. Bali Maharaja accepted this civilization of the soul in exchange for his great material possessions and thus became fit for promotion to the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven, which he achieved by dint of his material power, was considered most insignificant in comparison with the kingdom of God.

   Those who have attained the comforts of a material civilization made for sense gratification should try to attain the kingdom of God by following in the footsteps of Bali Maharaja, who exchanged his acquired material strength, adopting the process of bhakti-yoga as recommended in the Bhagavad-gita and further explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

                               TEXT 19

 

                                 TEXT

 

             tubhyam ca narada bhrsam bhagavan vivrddha-

                 bhavena sadhu paritusta uvaca yogam

               jnanam ca bhagavatam atma-satattva-dipam

                 yad vasudeva-sarana vidur anjasaiva

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   tubhyam--unto you; ca--also; narada--O Narada; bhrsam--very nicely; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; vivrddha--developed; bhavena--by transcendental love; sadhu--your goodness; paritustah--being satisfied; uvaca--described; yogam--service; jnanam--knowledge; ca--also; bhagavatam--the science of God and His devotional service; atma--the self; sa-tattva--with all details; dipam--just like the light in the darkness; yat--that which; vasudeva-saranah--those who are souls surrendered unto Lord Vasudeva; viduh--know them; anjasa--perfectly well; eva--as it is.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   O Narada, you were taught about the science of God and His transcendental loving service by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation of Hamsavatara. He was very much pleased with you, due to your intense proportion of devotional service. He also explained unto you, lucidly, the full science of devotional service, which is especially understandable by persons who are souls surrendered unto Lord Vasudeva, the Personality of Godhead.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The devotee and devotional service are two correlative terms. Unless one is inclined to be a devotee of the Lord, he cannot enter into the intricacies of devotional service. Lord Sri Krsna wanted to explain the Bhagavad-gita, which is the science of devotional service, unto Sri Arjuna because Arjuna was not only His friend but a great devotee as well. The whole process is that all living entities, being constitutionally parts and parcels of the supreme living being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, have proportionately minute independence of action also. So the preliminary qualification for entering into the devotional service of the Lord is that one become a willing cooperator, and as such one should voluntarily cooperate with persons who are already engaged in the transcendental devotional service of the Lord. By cooperating with such persons, the prospective candidate will gradually learn the techniques of devotional service, and with the progress of such learning one becomes proportionately free from the contamination of material association. Such a purificatory process will establish the prospective candidate in firm faith and gradually elevate him to the stage of transcendental taste for such devotional service. Thus he acquires a genuine attachment for the devotional service of the Lord, and his conviction carries him on to the point of ecstasy, just prior to the stage of transcendental love.

   Such knowledge of devotional service may be divided into two sections, namely preliminary knowledge of the nature of devotional service and the secondary knowledge of its execution. Bhagavatam is in relation with the Personality of Godhead, His beauty, fame, opulence, dignity, attraction and transcendental qualities which attract one towards Him for exchanges of love and affection. There is a natural affinity of the living entity for the loving service of the Lord. This affinity becomes artificially covered by the influence of material association, and Srimad-Bhagavatam helps one very genuinely remove that artificial covering. Therefore it is particularly mentioned herein that Srimad-Bhagavatam acts like the lamp of transcendental knowledge. These two sections of transcendental knowledge in devotional service become revealed to a person who is a soul surrendered unto Vasudeva; as it is said in the Bhagavad-gita (7.19), such a great soul, fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva, is very, very rare.

 

                               TEXT 20

 

                                 TEXT

 

               cakram ca diksv avihatam dasasu sva-tejo

                manvantaresu manu-vamsa-dharo bibharti

              dustesu rajasu damam vyadadhat sva-kirtim

             satye tri-prstha usatim prathayams caritraih

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   cakram--the Sudarsana wheel of the Lord; ca--as well as; diksu--in all directions; avihatam--without being deterred; dasasu--ten sides; sva-tejah--personal strength; manvantaresu--in different incarnations of Manu; manu-vamsa-dharah--as the descendant of the Manu dynasty; bibharti--rules over; dustesu--unto the miscreants; rajasu--upon the kings of that type; damam--subjection; vyadadhat--performed; sva-kirtim--personal glories; satye--in the Satyaloka planet; tri-prsthe--the three planetary systems; usatim--glorious; prathayan--established; caritraih--characteristics.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   As the incarnation of Manu, the Lord became the descendant of the Manu dynasty and ruled over the miscreant kingly order, subduing them by His powerful wheel weapon. Undeterred in all circumstances, His rule was characterized by His glorious fame, which spread over the three lokas, and above them to the planetary system of Satyaloka, the topmost in the universe.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   We have already discussed the incarnations of Manu in the First Canto. In one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus, changing one after another. In that way there are 420 Manus in a month of Brahma and 5,040 Manus in one year of Brahma. Brahma lives for one hundred years according to his calculation, and as such there are 504,000 Manus in the jurisdiction of one Brahma. There are innumerable Brahmas, and all of them live only during one breathing period of Maha-Visnu. So we can just imagine how the incarnations of the Supreme Lord work all over the material worlds, which comprehend only one-fourth of the total energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

   The manvantara incarnation chastises all the miscreant rulers of different planets with as much power as that of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who punishes the miscreants with His wheel weapon. The manvantara incarnations disseminate the transcendental glories of the Lord.

 

                               TEXT 21

 

                                 TEXT

 

              dhanvantaris ca bhagavan svayam eva kirtir

                namna nrnam puru-rujam ruja asu hanti

                 yajne ca bhagam amrtayur-avavarundha

                 ayusya-vedam anusasty avatirya loke

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   dhanvantarih--the incarnation of God named Dhanvantari; ca--and; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; svayam eva--personally Himself; kirtih--fame personified; namna--by the name; nrnam puru-rujam--of the diseased living entities; rujah--diseases; asu--very soon; hanti--cures; yajne--in the sacrifice; ca--also; bhagam--share; amrta--nectar; ayuh--duration of life; ava--from; avarundhe--obtains; ayusya--of duration of life; vedam--knowledge; anusasti--directs; avatirya--incarnating; loke--in the universe.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever-diseased living entities simply by his fame personified, and only because of him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is he only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine in the universe.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, everything emanates from the ultimate source of the Personality of Godhead; it is therefore understood in this verse that medical science or knowledge in medicine was also inaugurated by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation Dhanvantari, and thus the knowledge is recorded in the Vedas. The Vedas are the source of all knowledge, and thus knowledge in medical science is also there for the perfect cure of the diseases of the living entity. The embodied living entity is diseased by the very construction of his body. The body is the symbol of diseases. The disease may differ from one variety to another, but disease must be there just as there is birth and death for everyone. So, by the grace of the Personality of Godhead, not only are diseases of the body and mind cured, but also the soul is relieved of the constant repetition of birth and death. The name of the Lord is also called bhavausadhi, or the source of curing the disease of material existence.

 

                               TEXT 22

 

                                 TEXT

 

               ksatram ksayaya vidhinopabhrtam mahatma

             brahma-dhrug ujjhita-patham narakarti-lipsu

               uddhanty asav avanikantakam ugra-viryas

                trih-sapta-krtva urudhara-parasvadhena

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   ksatram--the royal order; ksayaya--for the sake of diminishing; vidhina--by destination; upabhrtam--increased in proportion; mahatma--the Lord in the form of the great sage Parasurama; brahma-dhruk--the ultimate truth in Brahman; ujjhita-patham--those who have given up the path of the Absolute Truth; naraka-arti-lipsu--desirous to suffer pain in hell; uddhanti--exacts; asau--all those; avanikantakam--thorns of the world; ugra-viryah--awfully powerful; trih-sapta--thrice seven times; krtvah--performed; urudhara--very sharp; parasvadhena--by the great chopper.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the ruling administrators, who are known as the ksatriyas, turned astray from the path of the Absolute Truth, being desirous to suffer in hell, the Lord, in His incarnation as the sage Parasurama, uprooted those unwanted kings, who appeared as the thorns of the earth. Thus He thrice seven times uprooted the ksatriyas with His keenly sharpened chopper.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The ksatriyas, or the ruling administrators of any part of the universe, either on this planet or on other planets, are factually the representatives of the Almighty Personality of Godhead, and they are meant to lead the subjects towards the path of God realization. Every state and its administrators, regardless of the nature of the administration--monarchy or democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship or autocracy--have the prime responsibility to lead the citizens toward God realization. This is essential for all human beings, and it is the duty of the father, spiritual master, and ultimately the state to take up the responsibility of leading the citizens towards this end. The whole creation of material existence is made for this purpose, just to give a chance to the fallen souls who rebelled against the will of the Supreme Father and thus became conditioned by material nature. The force of material nature gradually leads one to a hellish condition of perpetual pains and miseries. Those going against the prescribed rules and regulations of conditional life are called brahmojjhita-pathas, or persons going against the path of the Absolute Truth, and they are liable to be punished. Lord Parasurama, the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in such a state of worldly affairs and killed all the miscreant kings twenty-one times. Many ksatriya kings fled from India to other parts of the world at that time, and according to the authority of the Mahabharata, the kings of Egypt originally migrated from India because of Parasurama's program of chastisement. The kings or administrators are similarly chastised in all circumstances whenever they become godless and plan a godless civilization. That is the order of the Almighty.

 

                               TEXT 23

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesa

                 iksvaku-vamsa avatirya guror nidese

                 tisthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesa

             yasmin virudhya dasa-kandhara artim arcchat

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   asmat--unto us, beginning from Brahma down to the insignificant ant; prasada--causeless mercy; sumukhah--so inclined; kalaya--with His plenary extensions; kalesah--the Lord of all potencies; iksvaku--Maharaja Iksvaku, in the dynasty of the sun; vamse--family; avatirya--by descending in; guroh--of the father or spiritual master; nidese--under the order of; tisthan--being situated in; vanam--in the forest; sa-dayita-anujah--along with His wife and younger brother; avivesa--entered; yasmin--unto whom; virudhya--being rebellious; dasa-kandharah--Ravana, who had ten heads; artim--great distress; arcchat--achieved.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Laksmana and Satrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are visnu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Ramayana who present the younger brothers of Lord Ramacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Laksmiji Sita is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durga. Durga is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Siva.

   As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord's internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi.

   Lord Ramacandra was ordered by His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhya. One of His younger brothers, Laksmanaji, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sitaji, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Dandakaranya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Ramacandra and Ravana, and the latter kidnapped the Lord's wife, Sita. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Ravana, along with all his kingdom and family.

   Sita is Laksmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramacandra. A materialistic man like Ravana does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana. Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

   Lord Ramacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kalesah, or master of all opulence.

 

                               TEXT 24

 

                                 TEXT

 

                yasma adad udadhir udha-bhayanga-vepo

              margam sapady ari-puram haravad didhaksoh

                dure suhrn-mathita-rosa-susona-drstya

                 tatapyamana-makaroraga-nakra-cakrah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yasmai--unto whom; adat--gave; udadhih--the great Indian Ocean; udha-bhaya--affected by fear; anga-vepah--bodily trembling; margam--way; sapadi--quickly; ari-puram--the city of the enemy; hara-vat--like that of Hara (Mahadeva); didhaksoh--desiring to burn to ashes; dure--at a long distance; su-hrt--intimate friend; mathita--being aggrieved by; rosa--in anger; su-sona--red-hot; drstya--by such a glance; tatapyamana--burning in heat; makara--sharks; uraga--snakes; nakra--crocodiles; cakrah--circle.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Personality of Godhead has every sentiment of a sentient being, like all other living beings, because He is the chief and original living entity, the supreme source of all other living beings. He is the nitya, or the chief eternal amongst all other eternals. He is the chief one, and all others are the dependent many. The many eternals are supported by the one eternal, and thus both the eternals are qualitatively one. Due to such oneness, both the eternals constitutionally have a complete range of sentiments, but the difference is that the sentiments of the chief eternal are different in quantity from the sentiments of the dependent eternals. When Ramacandra was angry and showed His red-hot eyes, the whole ocean became heated with that energy, so much so that the aquatics within the great ocean felt the heat, and the personified ocean trembled in fear and offered the Lord an easy path for reaching the enemy's city. The impersonalists will see havoc in this red-hot sentiment of the Lord because they want to see negation in perfection. Because the Lord is absolute, the impersonalists imagine that in the Absolute the sentiment of anger, which resembles mundane sentiments, must be conspicuous by absence. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, they do not realize that the sentiment of the Absolute Person is transcendental to all mundane concepts of quality and quantity. Had Lord Ramacandra's sentiment been of mundane origin, how could it disturb the whole ocean and its inhabitants? Can any mundane red-hot eye generate heat in the great ocean? These are factors to be distinguished in terms of the personal and impersonal conceptions of the Absolute Truth. As it is said in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, so the Absolute Person cannot be devoid of the sentiments that are reflected in the temporary mundane world. Rather, the different sentiments found in the Absolute, either in anger or in mercy, have the same qualitative influence, or, in other words, there is no mundane difference of value because these sentiments are all on the absolute plane. Such sentiments are definitely not absent in the Absolute, as the impersonalists think, making their mundane estimation of the transcendental world.

 

                               TEXT 25

 

                                 TEXT

 

              vaksah-sthala-sparsa-rugna-mahendra-vaha-

                dantair vidambita-kakubjusa udha-hasam

               sadyo 'subhih saha vinesyati dara-hartur

              visphurjitair dhanusa uccarato 'dhisainye

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   vaksah-sthala--chest; sparsa--touched by; rugna--broken; maha-indra--the King of heaven; vaha--the conveyor; dantaih--by the trunk; vidambita--illuminated; kakup-jusah--all directions thus being served; udha-hasam--overtaken by laughter; sadyah--within no time; asubhih--by the life; saha--along with; vinesyati--was killed; dara-hartuh--of the one who kidnapped the wife; visphurjitaih--by the tingling of the bow; dhanusah--bow; uccaratah--strolling fast; adhisainye--in the midst of the fighting soldiers of both sides.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When Ravana was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the King of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Ravana, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Ravana therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Ramacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   However powerful a living being may be, when he is condemned by God no one can save him, and, similarly, however weak one may be, if he is protected by the Lord no one can annihilate him.

 

                               TEXT 26

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 bhumeh suretara-varutha-vimarditayah

                klesa-vyayaya kalaya sita-krsna-kesah

                jatah karisyati jananupalaksya-margah

                  karmani catma-mahimopanibandhanani

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   bhumeh--of the entire world; sura-itara--other than godly persons; varutha--soldiers; vimarditayah--distressed by the burden; klesa--miseries; vyayaya--for the matter of diminishing; kalaya--along with His plenary expansion; sita-krsna--not only beautiful but also black; kesah--with such hairs; jatah--having appeared; karisyati--would act; jana--people in general; anupalaksya--rarely to be seen; margah--path; karmani--activities; ca--also; atma-mahima--glories of the Lord Himself; upanibandhanani--in relation to.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the world is overburdened by the fighting strength of kings who have no faith in God, the Lord, just to diminish the distress of the world, descends with His plenary portion. The Lord comes in His original form, with beautiful black hair. And just to expand His transcendental glories, He acts extraordinarily. No one can properly estimate how great He is.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   This verse is especially describing the appearance of Lord Krsna and His immediate expansion, Lord Baladeva. Both Lord Krsna and Lord Baladeva are one Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is omnipotent, and He expands Himself in innumerable forms and energies, and the whole unit is known as the one Supreme Brahman. Such extensions of the Lord are divided into two divisions, namely personal and differential. The personal expansions are called the visnu-tattvas, and the differential expansions are called the jiva-tattvas. And in such expansional activity, Lord Baladeva is the first personal expansion of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

   In the Visnu Purana, as well as in the Mahabharata, both Krsna and Baladeva are mentioned as having beautiful black hair, even in Their advanced age. The Lord is called anupalaksya-margah or, in still more technical Vedic terms, avan-manasa gocarah: one who is never to be seen or realized by the limited sense perception of the people in general. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.25) it is said by the Lord, naham prakasah sarvasya yogamaya-samavrtah. In other words, He reserves the right of not being exposed to anyone and everyone. Only the bona fide devotees can know Him by His specific symptoms, and out of many, many such symptoms, one symptom is mentioned here in this verse, that the Lord is sita-krsna-kesah, or one who is observed always with beautiful black hair. Both Lord Krsna and Lord Baladeva have such hair on Their heads, and thus even in advanced age They appeared like young boys sixteen years old. That is the particular symptom of the Personality of Godhead. In the Brahma-samhita it is stated that although He is the oldest personality among all living entities, He always looks like a new, youthful boy. That is the characteristic of a spiritual body. The material body is symptomized by birth, death, old age and diseases, but the spiritual body is conspicuous by the absence of those symptoms. Living entities who reside in the Vaikunthalokas in eternal life and bliss have the same type of spiritual body, without being affected by any signs of old age. It is described in the Bhagavatam (Canto Six) that the party of Visnudutas who came to deliver Ajamila from the clutches of the party of Yamaraja appeared like youthful boys, corroborating the description in this verse. It is ascertained thus that the spiritual bodies in the Vaikunthalokas, either of the Lord or of the other inhabitants, are completely distinct from the material bodies of this world. Therefore, when the Lord descends from that world to this world, He descends in His spiritual body of atma-maya, or internal potency, without any touch of the bahiranga-maya, or external, material energy. The allegation that the impersonal Brahman appears in this material world by accepting a material body is quite absurd. Therefore the Lord, when He comes here, has not a material body, but a spiritual body. The impersonal brahmajyoti is only the glaring effulgence of the body of the Lord, and there is no difference in quality between the body of the Lord and the impersonal ray of the Lord, called brahmajyoti.

   Now the question is why the Lord, who is omnipotent, comes here to diminish the burden created upon the world by the unscrupulous kingly order. Certainly the Lord does not need to come here personally for such purposes, but He actually descends to exhibit His transcendental activities in order to encourage His pure devotees, who want to enjoy life by chanting the glories of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.13-14) it is stated that the mahatmas, great devotees of the Lord, take pleasure in chanting of the activities of the Lord. All Vedic literatures are meant for turning one's attention towards the Lord and His transcendental activities. Thus the activities of the Lord, in His dealings with worldly people, create a subject matter for discussion by His pure devotees.

 

                               TEXT 27

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 tokena jiva-haranam yad uluki-kayas

               trai-masikasya ca pada sakato 'pavrttah

                yad ringatantara-gatena divi-sprsor va

               unmulanam tv itaratharjunayor na bhavyam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   tokena--by a child; jiva-haranam--killing a living being; yat--one which; uluki-kayah--assumed the giant body of a demon; trai-masikasya--of one who is only three months old; ca--also; pada--by the leg; sakatah apavrttah--turned over the cart; yat--one who; ringata--while crawling; antara-gatena--being overtaken; divi--high in the sky; sprsoh--touching; va--either; unmulanam--uprooting; tu--but; itaratha--anyone else than; arjunayoh--of the two arjuna trees; na bhavyam--was not possible.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   There is no doubt about Lord Krsna's being the Supreme Lord, otherwise how was it possible for Him to kill a giant demon like Putana when He was just on the lap of His mother, to overturn a cart with His leg when He was only three months old, to uproot a pair of arjuna trees, so high that they touched the sky, when He was only crawling? All these activities are impossible for anyone other than the Lord Himself.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   One cannot manufacture a God by one's mental speculation or by numerical votes, as has become a practice for the less intelligent class of men. God is God eternally, and an ordinary living entity is eternally a part and parcel of God. God is one without a second, and the ordinary living entities are many without number. All such living entities are maintained by God Himself, and that is the verdict of the Vedic literatures. When Krsna was on the lap of His mother, the demon Putana appeared before His mother and prayed to nurture the child in her lap. Mother Yasoda agreed, and the child was transferred onto the lap of Putana, who was in the garb of a respectable lady. Putana wanted to kill the child by smearing poison on the nipple of her breast. But when everything was complete, the Lord sucked her breast along with her very air of life, and the demon's gigantic body, said to be as long as six miles, fell down. But Lord Krsna did not need to expand Himself to the length of the she-demon Putana, although He was quite competent to extend Himself more than six miles long. In His Vamana incarnation He posed Himself as a dwarf brahmana, but when He took possession of His land, promised by Bali Maharaja, He expanded His footstep to the top of the universe, extending over thousands and millions of miles. So it was not very difficult for Krsna to perform a miracle by extending His bodily feature, but He had no desire to do it because of His deep filial love for His mother, Yasoda. If Yasoda had seen Krsna in her lap extending six miles to cope with the she-demon Putana, then the natural filial love of Yasoda would have been hurt because in that way Yasoda would have come to know that her so-called son, Krsna, was God Himself. And with the knowledge of the Godhood of Krsna, Yasodamayi would have lost the temper of her love for Krsna as a natural mother. But as far as Lord Krsna is concerned, He is God always, either as a child on the lap of His mother, or as the coverer of the universe, Vamanadeva. He does not require to become God by undergoing severe penances, although some men think of becoming God in that way. By undergoing severe austerities and penances, one cannot become one or equal with God, but one can attain most of the godly qualities. A living being can attain godly qualities to a large extent, but he cannot become God, whereas Krsna, without undergoing any type of penance, is God always, either in the lap of His mother or growing up or at any stage of growth.

   So at the age of only three months He killed the Sakatasura, who had remained hidden behind a cart in the house of Yasodamayi. And when He was crawling and was disturbing His mother from doing household affairs, the mother tied Him with a grinding pestle, but the naughty child dragged the pestle up to a pair of very high arjuna trees in the yard of Yasodamayi, and when the pestle was stuck between the pair of trees, they fell down with a horrible sound. When Yasodamayi came to see the happenings, she thought that her child had been saved from the falling trees by the mercy of the Lord, without knowing that the Lord Himself, crawling in her yard, had wreaked the havoc. So that is the way of reciprocation of love affairs between the Lord and His devotees. Yasodamayi wanted to have the Lord as her child, and the Lord played exactly like a child in her lap, but at the same time played the part of the Almighty Lord whenever it was so required. The beauty of such pastimes was that the Lord fulfilled everyone's desire. In the case of felling the gigantic arjuna trees, the Lord's mission was to deliver the two sons of Kuvera, who were condemned to become trees by the curse of Narada, as well as to play like a crawling child in the yard of Yasoda, who took transcendental pleasure in seeing such activities of the Lord in the very yard of her home.

   The Lord in any condition is Lord of the universe, and He can act as such in any form, gigantic or small, as He likes.

 

                               TEXT 28

 

                                 TEXT

 

               yad vai vraje vraja-pasun visatoya-pitan

               palams tv ajivayad anugraha-drsti-vrstya

              tac-chuddhaye 'ti-visa-virya-vilola-jihvam

                uccatayisyad uragam viharan hradinyam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yat--one who; vai--certainly; vraje--at Vrndavana; vraja-pasun--the animals thereof; visa-toya--poisoned water; pitan--those who drank; palan--the cowherd men; tu--also; ajivayat--brought to life; anugraha-drsti--merciful glance; vrstya--by the showers of; tat--that; suddhaye--for purification; ati--exceedingly; visa-virya--highly potent poison; vilola--lurking; jihvam--one who has such a tongue; uccatayisyat--severely punished; uragam--unto the snake; viharan--taking it as a pleasure; hradinyam--in the river.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Then also when the cowherd boys and their animals drank the poisoned water of the River Yamuna, and after the Lord [in His childhood] revived them by His merciful glance, just to purify the water of the River Yamuna He jumped into it as if playing and chastised the venomous Kaliya snake, which was lurking there, its tongue emitting waves of poison. Who can perform such herculean tasks but the Supreme Lord ?

 

                               TEXT 29

 

                                 TEXT

 

               tat karma divyam iva yan nisi nihsayanam

                  davagnina suci-vane paridahyamane

                unnesyati vrajam ato 'vasitanta-kalam

               netre pidhapya sabalo 'nadhigamya-viryah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   tat--that; karma--activity; divyam--superhuman; iva--like; yat--which; nisi--at night; nihsayanam--sleeping carefreely; dava-agnina--by the glare of the forest fire; suci-vane--in the dry forest; paridahyamane--being set ablaze; unnesyati--would deliver; vrajam--all the inhabitants of Vraja; atah--hence; avasita--surely; anta-kalam--last moments of life; netre--on the eyes; pidhapya--simply by closing; sa-balah--along with Baladeva; anadhigamya--unfathomable; viryah--prowess.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   On the very night of the day of the chastisement of the Kaliya snake, when the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi were sleeping carefreely, there was a forest fire ablaze due to dry leaves, and it appeared that all the inhabitants were sure to meet their death. But the Lord, along with Balarama, saved them simply by closing His eyes. Such are the superhuman activities of the Lord.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Although in this verse the Lord's activity has been described as superhuman, it should be noted that the Lord's activities are always superhuman, and that distinguishes Him from the ordinary living being. Uprooting a gigantic banyan or arjuna tree and extinguishing a blazing forest fire simply by closing one's eyes are certainly impossible by any kind of human endeavor. But not only are these activities amazing to hear, but in fact all other activities of the Lord, whatever He may do, are all superhuman, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9). Whoever knows the superhuman activities of the Lord, due to their very transcendental nature, becomes eligible to enter the kingdom of Krsna, and as such, after quitting this present material body, the knower of the transcendental activities of the Lord goes back home, back to Godhead.

 

                               TEXT 30

 

                                 TEXT

 

                grhnita yad yad upabandham amusya mata

               sulbam sutasya na tu tat tad amusya mati

               yaj jrmbhato 'sya vadane bhuvanani gopi

               samviksya sankita-manah pratibodhitasit

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   grhnita--by taking up; yat yat--whatsoever; upabandham--ropes for tying; amusya--His; mata--mother; sulbam--ropes; sutasya--of her son; na--not; tu--however; tat tat--by and by; amusya--His; mati--was sufficient; yat--that which; jrmbhatah--opening the mouth; asya--of Him; vadane--in the mouth; bhuvanani--the worlds; gopi--the cowherd woman; samviksya--so seeing it; sankita-manah--doubtful in mind; pratibodhita--convinced in a different way; asit--was so done.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the cowherd woman [Krsna's foster mother, Yasoda] was trying to tie the hands of her son with ropes, she found the rope to be always insufficient in length, and when she finally gave up, Lord Krsna, by and by, opened His mouth, wherein the mother found all the universes situated. Seeing this, she was doubtful in her mind, but she was convinced in a different manner of the mystic nature of her son.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   One day Lord Krsna as the naughty child disturbed His mother Yasoda, and she began to tie up the child with ropes just to punish Him. But no matter how much rope she used, she found it always insufficient. Thus she became fatigued, but in the meantime the Lord opened His mouth, and the affectionate mother saw within the mouth of her son all the universes situated together. The mother was astonished, but out of her deep affection for Krsna she thought that the Almighty Godhead Narayana had kindly looked after her son just to protect Him from all the continuous calamities happening to Him. Because of her deep affection for Krsna, she could never think that her very son was Narayana, the Personality of Godhead Himself. That is the action of yogamaya, the internal potency of the Supreme Lord, which acts to perfect all the pastimes of the Lord with His different types of devotees. Who could play such wonders without being God?

 

                               TEXT 31

 

                                 TEXT

 

              nandam ca moksyati bhayad varunasya pasad

                 gopan bilesu pihitan maya-sununa ca

                 ahny aprtam nisi sayanam atisramena

                lokam vikuntham upanesyati gokulam sma

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   nandam--unto Nanda (the father of Krsna); ca--also; moksyati--saves; bhayat--from the fear of; varunasya--of Varuna, the demigod of water; pasat--from the clutches of; gopan--the cowherd men; bilesu--in the caves of the mountain; pihitan--placed; maya-sununa--by the son of Maya; ca--also; ahni aprtam--being very engaged during the daytime; nisi--at night; sayanam--lying down; atisramena--because of hard labor; lokam--planet; vikuntham--the spiritual sky; upanesyati--He awarded; gokulam--the highest planet; sma--certainly.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Lord Krsna saved His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, from the fear of the demigod Varuna and released the cowherd boys from the caves of the mountain, for they were placed there by the son of Maya. Also, to the inhabitants of Vrndavana, who were busy working during daytime and sleeping soundly at night because of their hard labor in the day, Lord Krsna awarded promotion to the highest planet in the spiritual sky. All these acts are transcendental and certainly prove without any doubt His Godhood.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Nanda Maharaja, the foster father of Lord Krsna, went to take his bath in the River Yamuna in the dead of night, mistakenly thinking that the night was already over; thus the demigod Varuna took him to the Varuna planet just to have a look at the Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna, who appeared there to release His father. Actually there was no arrest of Nanda Maharaja by Varuna because the inhabitants of Vrndavana were always engaged in thinking of Krsna, in constant meditation on the Personality of Godhead in a particular form of samadhi, or trance of bhakti-yoga. They had no fear of the miseries of material existence. In the Bhagavad-gita it is confirmed that to be in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead by full surrender in transcendental love frees one from the miseries inflicted by the laws of material nature. Here it is clearly mentioned that the inhabitants of Vrndavana were extensively busy in the hard labor of their day's work, and due to the day's hard labor they were engaged in sound sleep at night. So practically they had very little time to devote to meditation or to the other paraphernalia of spiritual activities. But factually they were engaged in the highest spiritual activities only. Everything done by them was spiritualized because everything was dovetailed in their relationship with Lord Sri Krsna. The central point of activities was Krsna, and as such the so-called activities in the material world were saturated with spiritual potency. That is the advantage of the way of bhakti-yoga. One should discharge one's duty on Lord Krsna's behalf, and all one's actions will be saturated with Krsna thought, the highest pattern of trance in spiritual realization.

 

                               TEXT 32

 

                                 TEXT

 

                gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavaya

                deve 'bhivarsati pasun krpaya riraksuh

              dhartocchilindhram iva sapta-dinani sapta-

                varso mahidhram anaghaika-kare salilam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   gopaih--by the cowherd men; makhe--in offering a sacrifice to the King of heaven; pratihate--being hampered; vraja-viplavaya--for devastating the whole existence of Vrajabhumi, the land of Krsna's pastimes; deve--by the King of heaven; abhivarsati--having poured down heavy rain; pasun--the animals; krpaya--by causeless mercy upon them; riraksuh--desired to protect them; dharta--held up; ucchilindhram--uprooted as an umbrella; iva--exactly like that; sapta-dinani--continuously for seven days; sapta-varsah--although He was only seven years old; mahidhram--the Govardhana Hill; anagha--without being tired; eka-kare--in one hand only; salilam--playfully.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly King, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog's umbrella, and Lord Krsna, when He was only seven years old, could snatch the great hill known as the Govardhana Parvata at Vrndavana and hold it for seven days continuously with one hand, just to protect the animals and the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the wrath of Indra, the heavenly King, who had been denied sacrificial offerings by the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi.

   Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gita, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances. Lord Krsna therefore advised the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi not to offer any sacrifices to the heavenly King Indra. But Indra, not knowing Lord Krsna in Vrajabhumi, was angry at the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi and tried to avenge the offense. But, competent as the Lord was, He saved the inhabitants and animals of Vrajabhumi by His personal energy and proved definitely that anyone directly engaged as a devotee of the Supreme Lord need not satisfy any other demigods, however great, even to the level of Brahma, or Siva. Thus this incident definitely proved without a doubt that Lord Krsna is the Personality of Godhead and that He was so in all circumstances, as a child on the lap of His mother, as a boy 7 years old, and as an old man of 125 years of age. In either case He was never on the level of the ordinary man, and even in His advanced age He appeared a young boy 16 years old. These are the particular features of the transcendental body of the Lord.

 

                               TEXT 33

 

                                 TEXT

 

               kridan vane nisi nisakara-rasmi-gauryam

                rasonmukhah kala-padayata-murcchitena

               uddipita-smara-rujam vraja-bhrd-vadhunam

                 hartur harisyati siro dhanadanugasya

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   kridan--while engaged in His pastimes; vane--in the forest of Vrndavana; nisi--nocturnal; nisakara--the moon; rasmi-gauryam--white moonshine; rasa-unmukhah--desiring to dance with; kala-padayata--accompanied by sweet songs; murcchitena--and melodious music; uddipita--awakened; smara-rujam--sexual desires; vraja-bhrt--the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi; vadhunam--of the wives; hartuh--of the kidnappers; harisyati--will vanquish; sirah--the head; dhanada-anugasya--of the follower of the rich Kuvera.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the Lord was engaged in His pastimes of the rasa dance in the forest of Vrndavana, enlivening the sexual desires of the wives of the inhabitants of Vrndavana by sweet and melodious songs, a demon of the name Sankhacuda, a rich follower of the treasurer of heaven [Kuvera], kidnapped the damsels, and the Lord severed his head from his trunk.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   We should carefully note that the statements described herein are the statements of Brahmaji to Narada, and he was speaking to Narada of events that would happen in the future, during the advent of Lord Krsna. The pastimes of the Lord are known to the experts who are able to see past, present and future, and Brahmaji, being one of them, foretold what would happen in the future. The killing of Sankhacuda by the Lord is a more recent incident, after the rasa-lila, and not exactly a simultaneous affair. In the previous verses we have seen also that the Lord's engagement in the affairs of the forest fire was described along with His pastimes of punishing the Kaliya snake, and similarly the pastimes of the rasa dance and the killing of Sankhacuda are also described herein. The adjustment is that all these incidents would take place in the future, after the time when it was being foretold by Brahmaji to Narada. The demon Sankhacuda was killed by the Lord during His pastimes at Horika in the month of Phalguna, and the same ceremony is still observed in India by the burning of the effigy of Sankhacuda one day prior to the Lord's pastimes at Horika, generally known as Holi.

   Generally the future appearance and the activities of the Lord or His incarnations are foretold in the scriptures, and thus the pseudoincarnations are unable to cheat persons who are in knowledge of the events as they are described in the authoritative scriptures.

 

                             TEXTS 34-35

 

                                 TEXT

 

              ye ca pralamba-khara-dardura-kesy-arista-

              mallebha-kamsa-yavanah kapi-paundrakadyah

                anye ca salva-kuja-balvala-dantavakra-

               saptoksa-sambara-viduratha-rukmi-mukhyah

 

                 ye va mrdhe samiti-salina atta-capah

               kamboja-matsya-kuru-srnjaya-kaikayadyah

              yasyanty adarsanam alam bala-partha-bhima-

                 vyajahvayena harina nilayam tadiyam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   ye--all those; ca--totally; pralamba--the demon named Pralamba; khara--Dhenukasura; dardura--Bakasura; kesi--the Kesi demon; arista--the demon Aristasura; malla--a wrestler in the court of Kamsa; ibha--Kuvalayapida; kamsa--the King of Mathura and maternal uncle of Krsna; yavanah--the kings of Persia and other adjoining places; kapi--Dvivida; paundraka-adyah--Paundraka and others; anye--others; ca--as much as; salva--King Salva; kuja--Narakasura; balvala--King Balvala; dantavakra--the brother of Sisupala, a dead rival of Krsna's; saptoksa--King Saptoksa; sambara--King Sambara; viduratha--King Viduratha; rukmi-mukhyah--the brother of Rukmini, the first queen of Krsna at Dvaraka; ye--all those; va--either; mrdhe--in the battlefield; samiti-salinah--all very powerful; atta-capah--well equipped with bows and arrows; kamboja--the King of Kamboja; matsya--the King of Dvarbhanga; kuru--the sons of Dhrtarastra; srnjaya--King Srnjaya; kaikaya-adyah--the King of Kekaya and others; yasyanti--would attain; adarsanam--impersonal merging within the brahmajyoti; alam--what to speak of; bala--Baladeva, the elder brother of Krsna; partha--Arjuna; bhima--the second Pandava; vyaja-ahvayena--by the false names; harina--by Lord Hari; nilayam--the abode; tadiyam--of Him.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   All demonic personalities like Pralamba, Dhenuka, Baka, Kesi, Arista, Canura, Mustika, Kuvalayapida elephant, Kamsa, Yavana, Narakasura and Paundraka, great marshals like Salva, Dvivida monkey and Balvala, Dantavakra, the seven bulls, Sambara, Viduratha and Rukmi, as also great warriors like Kamboja, Matsya, Kuru, Srnjaya and Kekaya, would all fight vigorously, either with the Lord Hari directly or with Him under His names of Baladeva, Arjuna, Bhima, etc. And the demons, thus being killed, would attain either the impersonal brahmajyoti or His personal abode in the Vaikuntha planets.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   All manifestations, in both the material and spiritual worlds, are demonstrations of the different potencies of Lord Krsna. The Personality of Godhead Baladeva is His immediate personal expansion, and Bhima, Arjuna, etc., are His personal associates. The Lord would appear (and He does so whenever He appears) with all His associates and potencies. Therefore the rebellious souls, like the demons and demoniac men, mentioned by names like Pralamba, would be killed either by the Lord Himself or by His associates. All these affairs will be clearly explained in the Tenth Canto. But we should know well that all the above-mentioned living entities killed would attain salvation either by being merged in the brahmajyoti of the Lord or being allowed to enter into the abodes of the Lord called Vaikunthas. This has already been explained by Bhismadeva (First Canto). All persons who participated in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra or otherwise with the Lord or with Baladeva, etc., would benefit by attaining spiritual existence according to the situation of their minds at the time of death. Those who recognized the Lord would enter Vaikuntha, and those who estimated the Lord as only a powerful being would attain salvation by merging into the spiritual existence of the impersonal brahmajyoti of the Lord. But every one of them would get release from material existence. Since such is the benefit of those who played with the Lord inimically, one can imagine what would be the position of those who devoutly served the Lord in transcendental relationship with Him.

 

                               TEXT 36

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 kalena milita-dhiyam avamrsya nrnam

                stokayusam sva-nigamo bata dura-parah

               avirhitas tv anuyugam sa hi satyavatyam

                veda-drumam vita-paso vibhajisyati sma

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   kalena--in course of time; milita-dhiyam--of the less intelligent persons; avamrsya--considering the difficulties; nrnam--of humanity at large; stoka-ayusam--of the short-living persons; sva-nigamah--the Vedic literatures compiled by Him; bata--exactly; dura-parah--greatly difficult; avirhitah--having appeared as; tu--but; anuyugam--in terms of the age; sah--He (the Lord); hi--certainly; satyavatyam--in the womb of Satyavati; veda-drumam--the desire tree of the Vedas; vita-pasah--by division of branches; vibhajisyati--will divide; sma--as it were.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord Himself in His incarnation as the son of Satyavati [Vyasadeva] will consider his compilation of the Vedic literature to be very difficult for the less intelligent persons with short life, and thus He will divide the tree of Vedic knowledge into different branches, according to the circumstances of the particular age.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Herein Brahma mentions the future compilation of Srimad-Bhagavatam for the short-lived persons of the Kali age. As explained in the First Canto, the less intelligent persons of the age of Kali would be not only short-lived, but also perplexed with so many problems of life due to the awkward situation of the godless human society. Advancement of material comforts of the body is activity in the mode of ignorance according to the laws of material nature. Real advancement of knowledge means progress of knowledge in self-realization. But in the age of Kali the less intelligent men mistakenly consider the short lifetime of one hundred years (now factually reduced to about forty or sixty years) to be all in all. They are less intelligent because they have no information of the eternity of life; they identify with the temporary material body existing for forty years and consider it the only basic principle of life. Such persons are described as equal to the asses and bulls. But the Lord, as the compassionate father of all living beings, imparts unto them the vast Vedic knowledge in short treatises like the Bhagavad-gita and, for the graduates, the Srimad-Bhagavatam. The Puranas and the Mahabharata are also similarly made by Vyasadeva for the different types of men in the modes of material nature. But none of them are independent of the Vedic principles.

 

                               TEXT 37

 

                                 TEXT

 

               deva-dvisam nigama-vartmani nisthitanam

               purbhir mayena vihitabhir adrsya-turbhih

               lokan ghnatam mati-vimoham atipralobham

               vesam vidhaya bahu bhasyata aupadharmyam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   deva-dvisam--of those who were envious of the devotees of the Lord; nigama--the Vedas; vartmani--on the path of; nisthitanam--of the well situated; purbhih--by rockets; mayena--made by the great scientist Maya; vihitabhih--made by; adrsya-turbhih--unseen in the sky; lokan--the different planets; ghnatam--of the killers; mati-vimoham--bewilderment of the mind; atipralobham--very attractive; vesam--dress; vidhaya--having done so; bahu bhasyate--will talk very much; aupadharmyam--subreligious principles.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   When the atheists, after being well versed in the Vedic scientific knowledge, annihilate inhabitants of different planets, flying unseen in the sky on well-built rockets prepared by the great scientist Maya, the Lord will bewilder their minds by dressing Himself attractively as Buddha and will preach on subreligious principles.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   This incarnation of Lord Buddha is not the same Buddha incarnation we have in the present history of mankind. According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the Buddha incarnation mentioned in this verse appeared in a different Kali age. In the duration of life of one Manu there are more than seventy-two Kali-yugas, and in one of them the particular type of Buddha mentioned here would appear. Lord Buddha incarnates at a time when the people are most materialistic and preaches common-sense religious principles. Such ahimsa is not a religious principle itself, but it is an important quality for persons who are actually religious. It is a common-sense religion because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to he who does the harm. But before learning these principles of nonviolence one has to learn two other principles, namely to be humble and to be prideless. Unless one is humble and prideless, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent. And after being nonviolent one has to learn tolerance and simplicity of living. One must offer respects to the great religious preachers and spiritual leaders and also train the senses for controlled action, learning to be unattached to family and home, and enacting devotional service to the Lord, etc. At the ultimate stage one has to accept the Lord and become His devotee; otherwise there is no religion. In religious principles there must be God in the center; otherwise simple moral instructions are merely subreligious principles, generally known as upadharma, or nearness to religious principles.

 

                               TEXT 38

 

                                 TEXT

 

             yarhy alayesv api satam na hareh kathah syuh

                 pasandino dvija-jana vrsala nrdevah

               svaha svadha vasad iti sma giro na yatra

               sasta bhavisyati kaler bhagavan yugante

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yarhi--when it happens; alayesu--in the residence of; api--even; satam--civilized gentlemen; na--no; hareh--of the Personality of Godhead; kathah--topics; syuh--will take place; pasandinah--atheists; dvija-janah--persons declaring themselves to be the higher three classes (brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas); vrsalah--the lower class sudras; nr-devah--ministers of the government; svaha--hymns to perform sacrifices; svadha--the ingredients to perform sacrifices; vasat--the altar of sacrifice; iti--all these; sma--shall; girah--words; na--never; yatra--anywhere; sasta--the chastiser; bhavisyati--will appear; kaleh--of the Kali age; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; yuga-ante--at the end of.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Thereafter, at the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher castes, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the lowborn sudra class or those less than them, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The symptoms of the worst conditions of the material world, at the last stage of this age, called Kali-yuga, are stated herein. The sum and substance of such conditions is godlessness. Even the so-called saints and higher castes of the social orders, generally known as the dvija janas or the twice-born, will become atheists. As such, all of them will practically forget even the holy name of the Lord, and what to speak of His activities. The higher castes of society, namely the intelligent class of men guiding the destinies of the social orders, the administrative class of men guiding the law and order of the society, and the productive class of men guiding the economic development of the society, must all be properly well versed in knowledge of the Supreme Lord, knowing factually His name, quality, pastimes, entourage, paraphernalia and personalities. The saints and the higher castes or orders of the society are judged by their proportion of knowledge in the science of God, or tattva jnana, and not by any kind of birthright or bodily designations. Such designations, without any knowledge of the science of God and practical knowledge of devotional service, are considered to be all decorations of dead bodies. And when there is too much inflation of these decorated dead bodies in society, there develop so many anomalies in the progressive, peaceful life of the human being. Because of the lack of training or culture in the upper section of the social orders, they are no more to be designated as the dvija janas, or the twice-born. The significance of being twice-born has been explained in many places in these great literatures, and again one is reminded herewith that birth, executed by the sex life of the father and the mother, is called animal birth. But such animal birth and progress of life on the animal principles of eating, sleeping, fearing and mating (without any scientific culture of spiritual life) is called the sudra life, or, to be more explicit, the uncultured life of the lower class of men. It is stated herein that the governmental power of society in the Kali-yuga will be passed over to the uncultured, godless laborer classes of men, and thus the nrdevas (or the ministers of the government) will be the vrsalas, or the uncultured lower-class men of society. No one can expect any peace and prosperity in a human society full of uncultured lower classes of men. The symptoms of such uncultured social animals are already in vogue, and it is the duty of the leaders of men to take note of it and try to reform the social order by introducing the principles of twice-born men trained in the science of God consciousness. This can be done by expanding the culture of Srimad-Bhagavatam all over the world. In the degraded condition of human society, the Lord incarnates as the Kalki avatara and kills all the demonic without mercy.

 

                               TEXT 39

 

                                 TEXT

 

                sarge tapo 'ham rsayo nava ye prajesah

              sthane 'tha dharma-makha-manv-amaravanisah

                ante tv adharma-hara-manyu-vasasuradya

                maya-vibhutaya imah puru-sakti-bhajah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   sarge--in the beginning of the creation; tapah--penance; aham--myself; rsayah--sages; nava--nine; ye prajesah--those who would generate; sthane--in the middle while maintaining the creation; atha--certainly; dharma--religion; makha--Lord Visnu; manu--the father of mankind; amara--the demigods deputed to control the affairs of maintenance; avanisah--and the kings of different planets; ante--at the end; tu--but; adharma--irreligion; hara--Lord Siva; manyu-vasa--subjected to anger; asura-adyah--atheists, the enemies of the devotees; maya--energy; vibhutayah--powerful representatives; imah--all of them; puru-sakti-bhajah--of the supreme powerful Lord.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   At the beginning of creation there are penance, myself [Brahma], and the Prajapatis, the great sages who generate; then, during the maintenance of the creation, there are Lord Visnu, the demigods with controlling powers, and the kings of different planets. But at the end there is irreligion, and then Lord Siva and the atheists full of anger, etc. All of them are different representative manifestations of the energy of the supreme power, the Lord.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The material world is created by the energy of the Lord, which is manifested in the beginning of the creation by the penance of Brahmaji, the first living being in the creation, and then there are the nine Prajapatis, known as great sages. In the stage when the creation is maintained, there are devotional service to Lord Visnu, or factual religion, the different demigods, and the kings of different planets who maintain the world. At last, when the creation is preparing to wind up, there is first the principle of irreligion, then Lord Siva along with the atheists, full of anger. But all of them are but different manifestations of the Supreme Lord. Therefore Brahma, Visnu and Mahadeva (Siva) are different incarnations of the different modes of material nature. Visnu is the Lord of the mode of goodness. Brahma is the lord of the mode of passion, and Siva is the lord of the mode of ignorance. Ultimately, the material creation is but a temporary manifestation meant to give the chance of liberation to the conditioned souls, who are entrapped in the material world, and one who develops the mode of goodness under the protection of Lord Visnu has the greatest chance of being liberated by following the Vaisnava principles and thus being promoted to the kingdom of God, no more to return to this miserable material world.

 

                               TEXT 40

 

                                 TEXT

 

               visnor nu virya-gananam katamo 'rhatiha

               yah parthivany api kavir vimame rajamsi

             caskambha yah sva-rahasaskhalata tri-prstham

               yasmat tri-samya-sadanad uru-kampayanam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   visnoh--of Lord Visnu; nu--but; virya--prowess; gananam--in the matter of accounting; katamah--who else; arhati--is able to do it; iha--in this world; yah--one who; parthivani--the atoms; api--also; kavih--great scientist; vimame--might have counted; rajamsi--particles; caskambha--could catch; yah--one who; sva-rahasa--by His own leg; askhalata--without being hampered; tri-prstham--the topmost planetary space; yasmat--by which; tri-samya--the neutral state of the three modes; sadanat--up to that place; uru-kampayanam--moving very greatly.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Who can describe completely the prowess of Visnu? Even the scientist, who might have counted the particles of the atoms of the universe, cannot do so. Because it is He only who in His form of Trivikrama moved His leg effortlessly beyond the topmost planet, Satyaloka, up to the neutral state of the three modes of material nature. And all were moved.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The highest scientific advancement of the material scientists is atomic energy. But the material scientist is not able to have an estimation of the particles of atoms contained in the whole universe. But even if one is able to count such atomic particles or is able to roll up the sky like one's bedding, even then one is unable to estimate the extent of the prowess and energy of the Supreme Lord. He is known as Trivikrama because once, in His incarnation of Vamana, He expanded His leg beyond the highest planetary system, Satyaloka, and reached the neutral state of the modes of nature called the covering of the material world. There are seven layers of material coverings over the material sky, and the Lord could penetrate even those coverings. With His toe He made a hole through which the water of the Causal Ocean filters into the material sky, and the current is known as the sacred Ganges, which purifies the planets of the three worlds. In other words, no one is equal to the transcendentally powerful Visnu. He is omnipotent, and no one is equal to or greater than Him.

 

                               TEXT 41

 

                                 TEXT

 

              nantam vidamy aham ami munayo 'gra-jas te

                 maya-balasya purusasya kuto 'vara ye

                 gayan gunan dasa-satanana adi-devah

                seso 'dhunapi samavasyati nasya param

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   na--never; antam--end; vidami--do I know; aham--myself; ami--and all those; munayah--great sages; agra-jah--born prior to you; te--you; maya-balasya--of the omnipotent; purusasya--of the Personality of Godhead; kutah--what to speak of others; avarah--born after us; ye--those; gayan--by singing; gunan--the qualities; dasa-sata-ananah--one who has ten hundred faces; adi-devah--the first incarnation of the Lord; sesah--known as Sesa; adhuna--until now; api--even; samavasyati--can achieve; na--not; asya--of Him; param--limit.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Neither I nor all the sages born before you know fully the omnipotent Personality of Godhead. So what can others, who are born after us, know about Him? Even the first incarnation of the Lord, namely Sesa, has not been able to reach the limit of such knowledge, although He is describing the qualities of the Lord with ten hundred faces.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The omnipotent Personality of Godhead has primarily three potential manifestations, namely internal, external, and marginal potencies, with unlimited expansions of these three energies. As such, the potential expansions can never be calculated by anyone because even the Personality of God Himself, as the incarnation of Sesa, cannot estimate the potencies, although He has been describing them continuously with His one thousand faces.

 

                               TEXT 42

 

                                 TEXT

 

                yesam sa esa bhagavan dayayed anantah

                sarvatmanasrita-pado yadi nirvyalikam

                 te dustaram atitaranti ca deva-mayam

              naisam mamaham iti dhih sva-srgala-bhaksye

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yesam--unto those only; sah--the Lord; esah--the; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; dayayet--does bestow His mercy; anantah--the unlimited potential; sarva-atmana--by all means, without reservation; asrita-padah--surrendered soul; yadi--if such surrender; nirvyalikam--without pretension; te--those only; dustaram--insurmountable; atitaranti--can overcome; ca--and the paraphernalia; deva-mayam--diverse energies of the Lord; na--not; esam--of them; mama--mine; aham--myself; iti--thus; dhih--conscious; sva--dogs; srgala--jackals; bhaksye--in the matter of eating.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   But anyone who is specifically favored by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, due to unalloyed surrender unto the service of the Lord, can overcome the insurmountable ocean of illusion and can understand the Lord. But those who are attached to this body, which is meant to be eaten at the end by dogs and jackals, cannot do so.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The unalloyed devotees of the Lord know the glories of the Lord in the sense that they can understand how great the Lord is and how great is His expansion of diverse energy. Those who are attached to the perishable body can hardly enter into the realm of the science of Godhead. The whole materialistic world, based on the conception of the material body as the self, is ignorant of the science of God. The materialist is always busy working for the welfare of the material body, not only his own but also those of his children, kinsmen, communitymen, countrymen, etc. The materialists have many branches of philanthropic and altruistic activities from a political, national and international angle of vision, but none of the field work can go beyond the jurisdiction of the misconception of identifying the material body with the spirit soul. Unless, therefore, one is saved from the wrong conception of the body and the soul, there is no knowledge of Godhead, and unless there is knowledge of God, all advancement of material civilization, however dazzling, should be considered a failure.

 

                             TEXTS 43-45

 

                                 TEXT

 

                 vedaham anga paramasya hi yoga-mayam

             yuyam bhavas ca bhagavan atha daitya-varyah

              patni manoh sa ca manus ca tad-atmajas ca

               pracinabarhir rbhur anga uta dhruvas ca

 

                iksvakur aila-mucukunda-videha-gadhi-

                raghv-ambarisa-sagara gaya-nahusadyah

               mandhatr-alarka-satadhanv-anu-rantideva

                 devavrato balir amurttarayo dilipah

 

                saubhary-utanka-sibi-devala-pippalada-

                 sarasvatoddhava-parasara-bhurisenah

               ye 'nye vibhisana-hanumad-upendradatta-

                partharstisena-vidura-srutadeva-varyah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   veda--know it; aham--myself; anga--O Narada; paramasya--of the Supreme; hi--certainly; yoga-mayam--potency; yuyam--yourself; bhavah--Siva; ca--and; bhagavan--the great demigod; atha--as also; daitya-varyah--Prahlada Maharaja, the great devotee of the Lord born in the family of an atheist; patni--Satarupa; manoh--of Manu; sah--he; ca--also; manuh--Svayambhuva; ca--and; tat-atma-jah ca--and his children like Priyavrata, Uttanapada, Devahuti, etc.; pracinabarhih--Pracinabarhi; rbhuh--Rbhu; angah--Anga; uta--even; dhruvah--Dhruva; ca--and; iksvakuh--Iksvaku; aila--Aila; mucukunda--Mucukunda; videha--Maharaja Janaka; gadhi--Gadhi; raghu--Raghu; ambarisa--Ambarisa; sagarah--Sagara; gaya--Gaya; nahusa--Nahusa; adyah--and so on; mandhatr--Mandhata; alarka--Alarka; satadhanu--Satadhanu; anu--Anu; rantidevah--Rantideva; devavratah--Bhisma; balih--Bali; amurttarayah--Amurttaraya; dilipah--Dilipa; saubhari--Saubhari; utanka--Utanka; sibi--Sibi; devala--Devala; pippalada--Pippalada; sarasvata--Sarasvata; uddhava--Uddhava; parasara--Parasara; bhurisenah--Bhurisena; ye--those who; anye--others; vibhisana--Vibhisana; hanumat--Hanuman; upendra-datta--Sukadeva Gosvami; partha--Arjuna; arstisena--Arstisena; vidura--Vidura; srutadeva--Srutadeva; varyah--the foremost.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   O Narada, although the potencies of the Lord are unknowable and immeasurable, still, because we are all surrendered souls, we know how He acts through yogamaya potencies. And, similarly, the potencies of the Lord are also known to the all-powerful Siva, the great king of the atheist family, namely Prahlada Maharaja, Svayambhuva Manu, his wife Satarupa, his sons and daughters like Priyavrata, Uttanapada, Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti, Pracinabarhi, Rbhu, Anga the father of Vena, Maharaja Dhruva, Iksvaku, Aila, Mucukunda, Maharaja Janaka, Gadhi, Raghu, Ambarisa, Sagara, Gaya, Nahusa, Mandhata, Alarka, Satadhanve, Anu, Rantideva, Bhisma, Bali, Amurttaraya, Dilipa, Saubhari, Utanka, Sibi, Devala, Pippalada, Sarasvata, Uddhava, Parasara, Bhurisena, Vibhisana, Hanuman, Sukadeva Gosvami, Arjuna, Arstisena, Vidura, Srutadeva, etc.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   All the great devotees of the Lord, as mentioned above, who flourished in the past or present, and all the devotees of the Lord who will come in the future, are aware of the different potencies of the Lord along with the potency of His name, quality, pastimes, entourage, personality, etc. And how do they know? Certainly it is not by mental speculation, nor by any attempt by dint of limited instruments of knowledge. By the limited instruments of knowledge (either the senses or the material instruments like microscopes and telescopes) one cannot even fully know the Lord's material potencies, which are manifested before our eyes. For example there are many millions and billions of planets far, far beyond the scientist's calculation. But these are only the manifestations of the Lord's material energy. What can the scientist hope to know of the spiritual potency of the Lord by such material efforts? Mental speculations, by adding some dozens of "if's" and "maybe's," cannot aid the advancement of knowledge--on the contrary, such mental speculations will only end in despair by dismissing the case abruptly and declaring the nonexistence of God. The sane person, therefore, ceases to speculate on subjects beyond the jurisdiction of his tiny brain, and as a matter of course he tries to learn to surrender unto the Supreme Lord, who alone can lead one to the platform of real knowledge. In the Upanisads it is clearly said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never be known simply by working very hard and taxing the good brain, nor can He be known simply by mental speculation and jugglery of words. The Lord is knowable only by one who is a surrendered soul. Herein Brahmaji, the greatest of all material living beings, acknowledges this truth. Therefore, the fruitless spoiling of energy by pursuing the path of experimental knowledge must be given up. One should gain knowledge by surrendering unto the Lord and by acknowledging the authority of the persons mentioned herein. The Lord is unlimited and, by the grace of the yogamaya, helps the surrendered soul to know Him proportionately with the advance of one's surrender.

 

                               TEXT 46

 

                                 TEXT

 

               te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-mayam

                stri-sudra-huna-sabara api papa-jivah

               yady adbhuta-krama-parayana-sila-siksas

                tiryag-jana api kim u sruta-dharana ye

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   te--such persons; vai--undoubtedly; vidanti--do know; atitaranti--surpass; ca--also; deva-mayam--the covering energy of the Lord; stri--such as women; sudra--the laborer class of men; huna--the mountaineers; sabarah--the Siberians, or those lower than the sudras; api--although; papa-jivah--sinful living beings; yadi--provided; adbhuta-krama--one whose acts are so wonderful; parayana--those who are devotees; sila--behavior; siksah--trained by; tiryak-janah--even those who are not human beings; api--also; kim--what; u--to speak of; sruta-dharanah--those who have taken to the idea of the Lord by hearing about Him; ye--those.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Surrendered souls, even from groups leading sinful lives, such as women, the laborer class, the mountaineers and the Siberians, or even the birds and beasts, can also know about the science of Godhead and become liberated from the clutches of the illusory energy by surrendering unto the pure devotees of the Lord and by following in their footsteps in devotional service.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Sometimes there are inquiries as to how one can surrender unto the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) the Lord asked Arjuna to surrender unto Him, and therefore persons unwilling to do so question where God is and to whom they should surrender. The answer to such questions or inquiries is given herein very properly. The Personality of Godhead may not be present before one's eyes, but if one is sincere in wanting such guidance the Lord will send a bona fide person who can guide one properly back home, back to Godhead. There is no need of material qualifications for making progress on the path of spiritual realization. In the material world, when one accepts some particular type of service, he is required to possess some particular type of qualification also. Without this one is unfit for such service. But in the devotional service of the Lord the only qualification required is surrender. Surrendering oneself is in one's own hand. If one likes, he can surrender immediately, without delay, and that begins his spiritual life. The bona fide representative of God is as good as God Himself. Or, in other words, the loving representative of the Lord is more kind and more easy to approach. A sinful soul cannot approach the Lord directly, but such a sinful man can very easily approach a pure devotee of the Lord. And if one agrees to put himself under the guidance of such a devotee of the Lord, he can also understand the science of God and can also become like the transcendental pure devotee of the Lord and thus get his liberation back to Godhead, back home for eternal happiness.

   So realization of the science of Godhead and relief from the unnecessary, useless struggle for existence are not at all difficult for the willing candidate. But they are very difficult for persons who are not surrendered souls but only simple, profitless speculators.

 

                               TEXT 47

 

                                 TEXT

 

              sasvat prasantam abhayam pratibodha-matram

              suddham samam sad-asatah paramatma-tattvam

               sabdo na yatra puru-karakavan kriyartho

                maya paraity abhimukhe ca vilajjamana

               tad vai padam bhagavatah paramasya pumso

               brahmeti yad vidur ajasra-sukham visokam

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   sasvat--eternal; prasantam--without disturbance; abhayam--without fear; pratibodha-matram--a consciousness opposed to the material counterpart; suddham--uncontaminated; samam--without distinction; sat-asatah--of the cause and effect; paramatma-tattvam--the principle of primeval cause; sabdah--speculative sound; na--not; yatra--where there is; puru-karakavan--resulting in fruitive action; kriya-arthah--for the matter of sacrifice; maya--illusion; paraiti--flies away; abhimukhe--in front of; ca--also; vilajjamana--being ashamed of; tat--that; vai--is certainly; padam--ultimate phase; bhagavatah--of the Personality of Godhead; paramasya--of the Supreme; pumsah--of the person; brahma--the Absolute; iti--thus; yat--which; viduh--known as; ajasra--unlimited; sukham--happiness; visokam--without grief.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   What is realized as the Absolute Brahman is full of unlimited bliss without grief. That is certainly the ultimate phase of the supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead. He is eternally void of all disturbances and fearless. He is complete consciousness as opposed to matter. Uncontaminated and without distinctions, He is the principle primeval cause of all causes and effects, in whom there is no sacrifice for fruitive activities and in whom the illusory energy does not stand.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The supreme enjoyer, the Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman or the summum bonum because of His being the supreme cause of all causes. The conception of impersonal Brahman realization is the first step, due to His distinction from the illusory conception of material existence. In other words, impersonal Brahman is a feature of the Absolute distinct from the material variegatedness, just as light is a conception distinct from its counterpart, darkness. But the light has its variegatedness, which is seen by those who further advance in the light, and thus the ultimate realization of Brahman is the source of the Brahman light, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the summum bonum or the ultimate source of everything. Therefore, meeting the Personality of Godhead includes the realization of the impersonal Brahman as realized at first in contrast with material inebriety. The Personality of Godhead is the third step of Brahman realization. As explained in the First Canto, one must understand all three features of the Absolute--Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.

   Pratibodha-matram is just the opposite conception of material existence. In matter there are material miseries, and thus in the first realization of Brahman there is the negation of such material inebrieties, and there is a feeling of eternal existence distinct from the pangs of birth and death, disease and old age. That is the primary conception of impersonal Brahman.

   The Supreme Lord is the Supreme Soul of everything, and therefore in the supreme conception affection is realized. The conception of affection is due to the relationship of soul to soul. A father is affectionate to his son because there is some relationship of nearness between the son and the father. But that sort of affection in the material world is full of inebriety. When the Personality of Godhead is met, the fullness of affection becomes manifested because of the reality of the affectionate relationship. He is not the object of affection by material tinges of body and mind, but He is the full, naked, uncontaminated object of affection for all living entities because He is the Supersoul, or Paramatma, within everyone's heart. In the liberated state of affairs, the full-fledged affection for the Lord is awakened.

   As such, there is an unlimited flow of everlasting happiness, without the fear of its being broken as we have experienced here in the material world. The relationship with the Lord is never broken; thus there is no grief and no fear. Such happiness is inexplicable by words, and there can be no attempt to generate such happiness by fruitive activities by arrangements and sacrifices. But we must also know that happiness, unbroken happiness exchanged with the Supreme Person, the Personality of Godhead as described in this verse, transcends the impersonal conception of the Upanisads. In the Upanisads the description is more or less negation of the material conception of things, but this is not denial of the transcendental senses of the Supreme Lord. Herein also the same is affirmed in the statements about the material elements; they are all transcendental, free from all contamination of material identification. And also the liberated souls are not devoid of senses; otherwise there cannot be any reciprocation of unhampered spiritual happiness exchanged between them in spontaneous unbroken joy. All the senses, both of the Lord and of the devotees, are without material contamination. They are so because they are beyond the material cause and effects, as clearly mentioned herein (sad-asatah param). The illusory, material energy cannot work there, being ashamed before the Lord and His transcendental devotees. In the material world the sense activities are not without grief, but here it is clearly said that the senses of the Lord and the devotees are without any grief. There is a distinct difference between the material and spiritual senses. And one should understand it without denying the spiritual senses because of a material conception.

   The senses in the material world are surcharged with material ignorance. In every way, the authorities have recommended purification of the senses from the material conception. In the material world the senses are manipulated for individual and personal satisfaction, whereas in the spiritual world the senses are properly used for the purpose for which they were originally meant, namely the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Such sensual activities are natural, and therefore sense gratification there is uninterrupted and unbroken by material contamination because the senses are spiritually purified. And such satisfaction of the senses is equally shared by the transcendental reciprocators. Since the activities are unlimited and constantly increasing, there is no scope for material attempts or artificial arrangements. Such happiness of transcendental quality is called brahma-saukhyam, which will he clearly described in the Fifth Canto.

 

                               TEXT 48

 

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               sadhryan niyamya yatayo yama-karta-hetim

              jahyuh svarad iva nipana-khanitram indrah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   sadhryak--artificial mental speculation or meditation; niyamya--controlling; yatayah--the mystics; yama-karta-hetim--the process of spiritual culture; jahyuh--are given up; svarat--fully independent; iva--as; nipana--well; khanitram--trouble for digging; indrah--the controlling demigod supplying rains.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   In such a transcendental state there is no need of artificial control of the mind, mental speculation or meditation, as performed by the jnanis and yogis. One gives up such processes, as the heavenly King, Indra, forgoes the trouble to dig a well.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   A poor man in want of water digs a well and undertakes the trouble of digging. Similarly, those who are poor in transcendental realization speculate on the mind or meditate by controlling the senses. But they do not know that such control of the senses and achievement of spiritual perfection are simultaneously made possible as soon as one is factually engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Person, the Personality of Godhead. It is for this reason that the great liberated souls also desire to be associated in hearing and chanting the activities of the Lord. The example of Indra is very appropriate in this connection. King Indra of heaven is the controlling deity or demigod for arranging clouds and supplying rains in the universe, and as such he does not have to take the trouble to dig a well for his personal water supply. For him, digging a well for a water supply is simply ludicrous. Similarly, those who are factually engaged in the loving service of the Lord have attained the ultimate goal of life, and for them there is no need of mental speculation to find out the true nature of God or His activities. Nor do such devotees have to meditate upon the imaginary or real identity of the Lord. Because they are factually engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, the Lord's pure devotees have already achieved the results of mental speculation and meditation. The real perfection of life is therefore to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

 

                               TEXT 49

 

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              sa sreyasam api vibhur bhagavan yato 'sya

              bhava-svabhava-vihitasya satah prasiddhih

                 dehe sva-dhatu-vigame 'nuvisiryamane

                vyomeva tatra puruso na visiryate 'jah

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   sah--He; sreyasam--all auspiciousness; api--also; vibhuh--the master; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; yatah--because; asya--of the living entity; bhava--natural modes; sva-bhava--own constitution; vihitasya--performances; satah--all good work; prasiddhih--ultimate success; dehe--of the body; sva-dhatu--forming elements; vigame--being vanquished; anu--after; visiryamane--having given up; vyoma--sky; iva--like; tatra--thereupon; purusah--the living entity; na--never; visiryate--becomes vanquished; ajah--due to being unborn.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Personality of Godhead is the supreme master of everything auspicious because the results of whatever actions are performed by the living being, in either the material or spiritual existence, are awarded by the Lord. As such, He is the ultimate benefactor. Every individual living entity is unborn, and therefore even after the annihilation of the material elementary body, the living entity exists, exactly like the air within the body.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The living entity is unborn and eternal, and as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (2.30), the living entity is not exhausted even though the material elementary body is vanquished. As long as the living entity is in material existence, actions performed by him are rewarded in the next life, or even in the present life. Similarly, in his spiritual life also actions are rewarded by the Lord by the five kinds of liberation. Even the impersonalist cannot achieve the desired merging into the existence of the Supreme without being favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.11) that the Lord awards similar results, as one desires, in one's present life. The living entities are given freedom to make their choice, and the Lord awards them accordingly.

   It is the duty of everyone, therefore, to worship devoutly only the Personality of Godhead to achieve his desired goal. The impersonalist, instead of speculating or meditating, can directly execute the routine devotional service of the Lord and thus easily obtain the desired goal.

   The devotees, however, are naturally inclined to become associates of the Lord and not merge in the spiritual existence, as conceived by the impersonalist. The devotees, therefore, following their constitutional instincts, achieve the desired goal of becoming servitors, friends, fathers, mothers or conjugal lovers of the Lord. The devotional service of the Lord involves nine transcendental processes, such as hearing and chanting, and by performing such easy and natural devotional services the devotees achieve the highest perfectional results, far, far superior to merging into the existence of Brahman. The devotees are therefore never advised to indulge in speculating upon the nature of the Supreme or artificially meditating on the the void.

   One should not, however, mistakenly think that after the annihilation of this present body there is no body by which one can associate with the Lord face to face. The living entity is unborn. It is not that he is manifest with the creation of the material body. On the other hand, it is true that the material body develops only by the desire of the living entity. The evolution of the material body is due to the desires of the living being. According to the desires of the living being, the material body develops. So from the spirit soul the material body comes into existence, generated from the living force. Since the living being is eternal, he exists just like the air within the body. Air is within and without the body. Therefore when the external covering, the material body, is vanquished, the living spark, like the air within the body, continues to exist. And by the direction of the Lord, because He is the ultimate benefactor, the living entity is at once awarded the necessary spiritual body befitting his association with the Lord in the manner of sarupya (equal bodily feature), salokya (equal facility to live on the same planet with the Lord), sarsti (equal possession of opulence like the Lord), and samipya (equal association with the Lord).

   The Lord is so kind that even if a devotee of the Lord cannot fulfill the complete course of devotional service unalloyed and uncontaminated by material association, he is given another chance in the next life by being awarded a birth in the family of a devotee or rich man so that without being engaged in the struggle for material existence the devotee can finish the remaining purification of his existence and thus immediately, after relinquishing the present body, go back home, back to Godhead. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita.

   In this connection detailed information is available in the Bhagavat-sandarbha of Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada. Once achieving the spiritual existence, the devotee is eternally situated there, as already discussed in the previous verse.

 

                               TEXT 50

 

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                      so 'yam te 'bhihitas tata

                       bhagavan visva-bhavanah

                        samasena harer nanyad

                       anyasmat sad-asac ca yat

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   sah--that; ayam--the same; te--unto you; abhihitah--explained by me; tata--my dear son; bhagavan--the Personality of Godhead; visva-bhavanah--the creator of the manifested worlds; samasena--in brief; hareh--without Hari, the Lord; na--never; anyat--anything else; anyasmat--being the cause of; sat--manifested or phenomenal; asat--noumenal; ca--and; yat--whatever there may be.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   My dear son, I have now explained in brief the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is creator of the manifested worlds. Without Him, Hari, the Lord, there are no other causes of the phenomenal and noumenal existences.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Since we generally have the experience of the temporary, material world and conditioned souls trying to lord it over the material worlds, Brahmaji explained to Naradadeva that this temporary world is the work of the external potency of the Lord and that the conditioned souls struggling here for existence are the marginal potency of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead. There is no cause for all these phenomenal activities but Him, Hari, the Supreme Lord, who is the primeval cause of all causes. This does not mean, however, that the Lord Himself is distributed impersonally. He is aloof from all these interactions of the external and marginal potencies. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.4) it is confirmed that by His potencies alone He is present everywhere and anywhere. Everything that is manifested rests on His potency only, but He, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always aloof from everything. The potency and the potent are simultaneously one and different from one another.

   One should not deprecate the Supreme Lord for the creation of this miserable world, just as one should not blame the king for creating a prisonhouse in the government. The prisonhouse is a necessary institution of the governmental establishment for those who are disobedient to the laws of the government. Similarly, this material world, full of miseries, is a temporary creation of the Lord for those who have forgotten Him and are trying to lord it over the false manifestation. He, however, is always anxious to get the fallen souls back home, back to Godhead, and for this He has given so many chances to the conditioned souls via the authoritative scriptures, His representatives, and personal incarnations also. Since He has no direct attachment to this material world, He is not to be blamed for its creation.

 

                               TEXT 51

 

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                         idam bhagavatam nama

                        yan me bhagavatoditam

                       sangraho 'yam vibhutinam

                        tvam etad vipuli kuru

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   idam--this; bhagavatam--the science of Godhead; nama--of the name; yat--that which; me--unto me; bhagavata--by the Personality of Godhead; uditam--enlightened; sangrahah--is the accumulation of; ayam--His; vibhutinam--of the diverse potencies; tvam--your good self; etat--this science of Godhead; vipuli--expand; kuru--do it.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   O Narada, this science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam, was spoken to me in summary by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it was spoken as the accumulation of His diverse potencies. Please expand this science yourself.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The Bhagavatam in a nutshell, spoken by the Personality of Godhead in about half a dozen verses, which will appear ahead, is the science of God, and it is the potent representation of the Personality of Godhead. He, being absolute, is nondifferent from the science of God, Srimad-Bhagavatam. Brahmaji received this science of Godhead from the Lord directly, and he handed over the same to Narada, who in his turn ordered Srila Vyasadeva to expand it. So the transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Lord is not mental speculation by the mundane wranglers, but is uncontaminated, eternal, perfect knowledge beyond the jurisdiction of material modes. The Bhagavata purana is therefore the direct incarnation of the Lord in the form of transcendental sound, and one should receive this transcendental knowledge from the bona fide representative of the Lord in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahmaji, from Brahmaji to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, from Vyasadeva to Sukadeva Gosvami, from Sukadeva Gosvami to Suta Gosvami. The ripened fruit of the Vedic tree drops from one hand to another without being broken by falling suddenly from a high branch down to the earth. Therefore unless one hears the science of Godhead from the bona fide representative of the disciplic succession, as above mentioned, for one to understand the theme of the science of Godhead will be a difficult job. It should never be heard from the professional Bhagavatam reciters who earn their livelihood by gratifying the senses of the audience.

 

                               TEXT 52

 

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                        yatha harau bhagavati

                       nrnam bhaktir bhavisyati

                        sarvatmany akhiladhare

                        iti sankalpya varnaya

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   yatha--as much as; harau--unto the Personality of Godhead; bhagavati--unto the Lord; nrnam--for human beings; bhaktih--devotional service; bhavisyati--become enlightened; sarva-atmani--the Absolute Whole; akhila-adhare--unto the summum bonum; iti--thus; sankalpya--by determination; varnaya--describe.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   Please describe the science of Godhead with determination and in a manner by which it will be quite possible for the human being to develop transcendental devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead Hari, the Supersoul of every living being and the summum bonum source of all energies.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   Srimad-Bhagavatam is the philosophy of devotional service and the scientific presentation of man's relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prior to the age of Kali there was no need for such a book of knowledge to know the Lord and His potential energies, but with the beginning of the age of Kali human society gradually became influenced by four sinful principles, namely illegitimate connection with women, intoxication, gambling and unnecessary killing of animals. Because of these basic sinful acts, man gradually became forgetful of his eternal relation with God. Therefore man became blind, so to speak, to his ultimate goal of life. The ultimate goal of life is not to pass a life of irresponsibility like the animals and indulge in a polished way in the four animal principles, namely eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. For such a blind human society in the darkness of ignorance, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the torchlight to see things in proper perspective. Therefore it was necessary to describe the science of God from the very beginning, or from the very birth of the phenomenal world.

   As we have already explained, Srimad-Bhagavatam is so scientifically presented that any sincere student of this great science will be able to understand the science of God simply by reading it with attention or simply by regularly hearing it from the bona fide speaker. Everyone is hankering after happiness in life, but in this age the members of human society, blind as they are, do not have the proper vision that the Personality of Godhead is the reservoir of all happiness because He is the ultimate source of everything (janmady asya yatah). Happiness in complete perfection without hindrance can be achieved only by our devotional relationship with Him. And it is only by His association that we can get free of distressful material existence. Even those who are after the enjoyment of this material world can also take shelter of the great science of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and they will be successful at the end. Narada is therefore requested or ordered by his spiritual master to present this science with determination and in good plan. Narada was never advised to preach the principles of Bhagavatam to earn a livelihood; he was ordered by his spiritual master to take the matter very seriously in a missionary spirit.

 

                               TEXT 53

 

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                        mayam varnayato 'musya

                          isvarasyanumodatah

                      srnvatah sraddhaya nityam

                         mayayatma na muhyati

 

                               SYNONYMS

 

   mayam--affairs of the external energy; varnayatah--while describing; amusya--of the Lord; isvarasya--of the Personality of Godhead; anumodatah--thus appreciating; srnvatah--thus hearing; sraddhaya--with devotion; nityam--regularly; mayaya--by the illusory energy; atma--the living entity; na--never; muhyati--becomes illusioned.

 

                             TRANSLATION

 

   The Lord's activities in association with His different energies should be described, appreciated and heard in accordance with the teachings of the Supreme Lord. If this is done regularly with devotion and respect, one is sure to get out of the illusory energy of the Lord.

 

                               PURPORT

 

   The science of learning a subject matter seriously is different from the sentiments of fanatics. Fanatics or fools may consider the Lord's activities in relation with the external energy to be useless for them, and they may falsely claim to be higher participants in the internal energy of the Lord, but factually the Lord's activities in relation with the external energy and the internal energy are equally good. On the other hand, those who are not completely free from the clutches of the Lord's external energy should devoutly hear regularly about the activities of the Lord in relation with the external energy. They should not foolishly jump up to the activities of the internal energy, falsely attracted by the Lord's internal potential activities like His rasa-lila. The cheap reciters of the Bhagavatam are very much enthusiastic about the Lord's internal potential activities, and the pseudodevotees, absorbed in material sense enjoyment, falsely jump to the stage of liberated souls and thus fall down deeply into the clutches of external energy.

   Some of them think that to hear about the pastimes of the Lord means to hear about His activities with the gopis or about His pastimes like lifting the Govardhana Hill, and they have nothing to do with the Lord's plenary expansions as the purusavataras and Their pastimes of the creation, maintenance or annihilation of the material worlds. But a pure devotee knows that there is no difference between the pastimes of the Lord, either in rasa-lila or in creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. Rather, the descriptions of such activities of the Lord as the purusavataras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy. Topics like the rasa-lila are meant for the liberated souls and not for the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls, therefore, must hear with appreciation and devotion the Lord's pastimes in relationship with the external energy, and such acts are as good as the hearing of rasa-lila in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Sri Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rasa-lila with ordinary men.

   In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the science of God, the first nine cantos prepare the ground for hearing the Tenth Canto. This will be further explained in the last chapter of this canto. In the Third Canto it will be more explicit. A pure devotee of the Lord, therefore, must begin reading or hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam from the very beginning, and not from the Tenth Canto. We have several times been requested by some so-called devotees to take up the Tenth Canto immediately, but we have refrained from such an action because we wish to present Srimad-Bhagavatam as the science of Godhead and not as a sensuous understanding for the conditioned souls. This is forbidden by such authorities as Sri Brahmaji. By reading and hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam as a scientific presentation, the conditioned souls will gradually be promoted to the higher status of transcendental knowledge after being freed from the illusory energy based on sense enjoyment.

 

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Second Canto, Seventh Chapter, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, entitled "Scheduled Incarnations with Specific Functions."